The legend of Spyro: Burning Sun
by The-Legend-Spyro
Summary: Follow up to Dusk Till Dawn. War in the dragon realms. No dragon is safe as Warfang is taking. Spyro is forced to use dark powers which corrupt his mind while Cynder can only watch. But a new threat looms.
1. Prologue

Two days. It had been two days since the fall of Warfang. Verena and her army of wyvern and shadow dragons took it by force sparing no-one in there way. Changes were already happening to the city itself. The temple had been completely changed inside. All rooms had become one large throne room. All the walls had been posted by wyvern that looked in all directions. Most things were still smouldering or bright red with flames. Two figures cloaked in black hoods were entering the main gates. They wyvern guarding them growled but the shadow dragon that overlooked it shook a paw to open the gates. The hooded figures did not show any sign of acknowledgement and walked past them. Both Wyvern growled and barked at them as they walked past. Inside they city as the hooded figures walked were the wyvern that were not guarding the walls. They were completely upturning homes and stores looking for valuables. One of the figures grunted in disgust at them as did the other. Soon they came to the main doors of the temple. They were now painted the colour purple with a yellow stripe down the middle. Without them saying a word the doors opened and both of them walked into the building. Once inside they were met by only one wyvern.

" Who are you and state you're purpose here." It said. One of the figures took a step forward and looked down under its hood at the wyvern making it feel uneasy.

" We were requested an audience with her Verena-"

" You dare call her by her name." The wyvern snapped quite shocked. The hooded figure did not flinch but chuckled slightly.

" Why yes I do. Now lead the way." The wyvern growled but lead them through the doors. Inside was a large room with only one large seat at the far end. All the pensive were in a semi circle at the left side while on the other was a large table with each type of crystal on it. Sitting in the large chair with the leader shadow dragon and wyvern at her side was Verena. She was twirling round a small cylinder of red liquid. She spotted the hooded figures and laughed.

" You need not cover yourselves in these walls. Everyone is looking for the same thing here." She said sweetly. When the figures didn't move she frowned. " Take you're hoods down." She said angrily no longer sweet. Both figures slowly moved there hands up the hoods and grabbed either side of it pulling it down. One of the dragons was a young one with blue scales and red eyes. She had yellow horns and everything from her neck down was covered by the cloak she had on.

" Ah, Fillasia. Good to see you again." Verena said then turned to the other dragon. She smiled widely at her. " And thank you. For giving me access to the groundwork of the city and telling me which places to enter the easiest from. And to think this was all over one little dragoness." Verena then chuckled at the dragoness standing before her. A frown forming on her pink face.

All the dragons that fled the city had travelled to the nearest cheetah village of Avalar. Chief Prowlus wasn't amused with the amount of dragons overloading his village. The mass of the village had to be doubled to accommodate the numbers. All of the dragons were deeply hurt and shaken by the attack. Most of all Earn. He hadn't moved from the tent were star was in the coffin since upon arrival. He didn't eat or drink but sat there watching the her. As if he were expecting her to wake up at any moment but she doesn't. Cynder still tries to cheer him up but to no avail. The trails of the dying smoke from the city were still in the air, scaring the sky. Looking at them was Winfil. Sitting on his haunches sighing loudly.

" Going to be a long day." He said to himself. Inside the largest hut were the three guardians. They were talking about there plans about getting back the city. The sense of war still thick in the air. Cyril shook his head while snorting.

" We can't attack head on, you seen what happened in the city. We would be destroyed-"

" it's the only way!" Terrador shouted back. Hunter stood at the door watching the sky. Not long ago he sent his hawk to the city to find out some information. He had high hopes.

" There's always more than one way Terrador." Cyril said softly to the fuming earth guardian. Volteer was saying nothing in the matter. He was silently contemplating on what to do with the task at hand. Cyril rolled the map up and put to the side of the table much to Terrador's dismay.

" And that would be for…" The large green dragon asked. Cyril shook his head a little.

" We've been at it for two days. Its about time for a break. Besides, we're paying respects to our fallen tomorrow and in two days celebrating our safe exit from the city-"

" You call that safe!" Terrador growled.

" It could have been allot worse. Come on, Be happy tonight. Not for me but for yourself. And the hundreds of dragons out there that look up to us."

" But." Terrador stopped with the stare he got from Cyril. Outside the guardians tent stood Ornis and Flame. They both where thinking of a way to speak to Earn but found nothing so far. Ornis thinking a full on approach would be best but Flame thinking it best if a soft one was best.

" He can't stay like this forever." Said Ornis shaking his head.

" What would you do if the love of you're life finally told you she felt the same only to be ripped out of you're hands." Flame snapped at him. Ornis shrank back a little at the forcefulness in his voice. " Sorry. I just wished I knew where Ember is. I'm quite scared Ornis." He said. Ornis nodded and mock punched him in the shoulder.

" Hey. She'll be fine. She's a tough cookie."

" You think."

" No I don't think. I know." Both of them laughed a little. They both looked over at Cynder who was walking into hers and Spyro's tent and Flame chuckled a little.

" Spyro's so whipped with Cynder isn't he." The fire dragon said.

" Yeah he is. Lets go jump in on the moment between the two of them." Ornis said smiling. Flame turned with a sceptical look.

" And if they are kissing each other and all that banter then we leave without a word, there and then." Flame said laying down the rules. Ornis nodded in anticipation and they both crept over to the tent. They couldn't hear anything when they were near. Flame looked at Ornis who nodded and they crouched.

" GO!" Flame shouted. They both jumped into the tent were they found both of them nearly sleeping. Spyro's eyes shot open and he growled in annoyence.

" Guys. What the hell." The purple dragon said. This made Flame and Ornis burst out into laughter which eventually infected Cynder and Spyro. They all started laughing. High above the tent though was a bird, flying through the cold wind. On a closer look this bird was a hawk. And not just any hawk, Hunters. The bird flew down and landed with a sharp clank on Hunters armour.

" Ah, news has arrived." The cheetah said leaning into the bird. The hawk gave him a scroll and whispered some words before leaping of his shoulder and back into the sky. Hunter looked down at the scroll and as he read his eyes widened.

" What is it Hunter. What does it say." Volteer asked. Hunter shook his head solemnly.

" Its plans. Plans to go to the Well of Souls."

" but that means-" Terrador cut in.

" Yes. That yellow dragoness is going to revive someone and I can have a good guess who." Hunter finished. There was an eerie silence.

" No they can't revive him. He's locked away in the purple crystal at the bottom of the earth. No-one can get to him-" Cyril chuckling nervously

" Except the shadow dragons. They can phase through almost anything. That's why they gave us such a hard time fighting them." Hunter walked to the table from where he stood and leaned onto his paws. " We need a team to intercept the Shadows travelling to the Well."

" And who put you in charge." Terrador growled. Hunter shrugged at his words.

" If any of you have a better plan then I'd like to hear it." He said. All of the dragons in the tent and the two cheetahs were on thin lines with their temper. They were all extremely stressed.

" So they one that go will need to be very skilled and strong-" Cyril started.

" We shall not think about that just now. We shall wait until the are respects are paid and the celebrations are over. Then we shall make real plans." Terrador said.

" Very well. We shall wait." Cyril replied.


	2. The Fallen

The Fallen

Cyril walked out the tent with a heavy head. He new that it would only be a matter of time until Verena left to bring back whomever she was talking about. The ice dragon had a good idea as well as Hunter who it was and if he were to return, He would most likely target the two dragons that defeated him in the first place. Cyril let out a sigh before spotting four dragons in a tent just of his own. Spyro, Cynder, Flame and Ornis were inside it discussing what's to happen next. Cyril shook his head and chuckled a little.

" Young dragons. That is a matter that only the guardians should worry about. You should just worry about staying safe for the time being."

" Pffft. When have we ever tried to stay out of trouble Cyril." Flame said with a devilish grin. Ornis elbowed him in the side and snorted.

" We will try our best. But what is to happen to Earn?" Ornis asked glancing to the farthest tent from their own. He could plainly see the outline of the earth dragon inside. " He's not taking it well. I mean I would be sad but he, He's just destroyed."

" We have to understand that different dragons take the death of a loved one differently. Earn is one of the dragons that apparently don't take it well." Cyril said. A hint of regret in his tone.

" Well we can try and help him out a little can't we. I mean like Ornis said not to long ago, he can't stay like that forever." Spyro said cutting in the conversation. Cyril shook his head.

" If we try to move him it will most likely make him worse. The most we can do is give him space until later on tonight which reminds me. The reason I came here is at ask you a favour."

" And that would be." Cynder said speaking for the first time.

" I need you to all stay with Earn when the time comes to cremate our fallen. He _will_ need help when that comes around-"

" And when is that going to be." Asked Flame.

" Well later on tonight there's going to be a memorial plaque that is going to be put up in the middle of the square and all of us are going to be there. Tomorrow is when we will give the deceased a proper send off."

" And that's when Earn will be the worst, in other words." Cynder said monosyllabically. Cyril nodded his head.

" I'll expect to see you in one hour." The ice guardian said before turning and leaving for the main tent, letting his tail drag against the ground every now and again. Cynder sighed and dug hear head into Spyro's shoulder.

" I just want to stay here." She said softly. " And not worry about anything. Let alone the psychotic dragons within Warfang."

" Here, Here." Flame said loudly making Ornis and Spyro grin. Cynder frowned at him but it was replaced with a smile quickly. All four of the dragons laid there talking about what to do and what's to come. All of them were thinking the same thing when it came to Earn however. Will he be alright. Earn himself sat on his haunches inside the tent that contained Star. Her small softly smiling face lay motionless and still as a statue. There were no tears coming down Earns face. Instead he stood watching her hopefully. Like she would wake up at any moment. Like she would awake and he would be able to take her away from the dawning war and live happily with her. But sadly that isn't possible. Earns eyes were still bloodshot from the tears that had flown so freely only hours ago.

" Why you." He whispered. His voice still hoarse. " Why you all of all people." He sniffed and tucked in the cover that was on from her neck to tail and brushed of some leaves blown in from outside.

" I swear it on my life. If magic can bring back the dark one or others then it can bring back you. And I promise. I will bring you back." He wiped a tear from his cheek and bent down softly kissing her on the cheek. He smiled for the first time in two days but didn't move. Again he staid his place gazing at the yellow dragoness.

" You can't be serious." Cynder said to Ornis fifteen minutes later in the large square making the centre of the cheetah village. The bitingly cold wind dying down but being replaced with a light drizzle of rain. Ornis was asking Cynder to join them in giving a surprise party for Earn. Only wanting to help him of coarse.

" Oh, I'm dead serious. A few drinks down the hatch and he'll be bright a ra-"

" Yea sure he will." Said Cynder sarcastically. " And I'll be my older self again… of coarse that wont help him. That'll make him more depressed you idiot."

" Fair play. I'm only trying to think of ways to cheer him up." Flame who was on the other side of Cynder chuckled a little. Cynder shot him a warning glance and he snapped up into a straight walking position.

" And what's so funny in a time like this." The black dragoness asked a little disgruntled. Flame shook his head while looking forward.

" Its nothing. Just you both talking about drink and that again reminded me of another time whe-"

" You mean the time when I had to carry Spyro back from you're house and you and Winfil were completely out of it." Said Cynder in a matter-of-fact voice.

" Yeah that time. So it was you who took Spyro away then. Leaving us to clean up the mess."

" Well no skin of my nose." retorted Cynder. Flame growled a little and Ornis laughed gaining both the dragons attention.

" I have no idea what you're both talking about but it sounds like it was one hell of a night for Cynder to have to carry Spyro back." He said.

" You know that's no way to be acting on a night like this." Came a voice. Three of them spun there heads round to see Spyro and Winfil walking up to them. Winfil shaking his head. " This is a night of remembrance. Can I ask what you think the other dragons would think of you three laughing. If it were me looking at you then I would think something like…Well I don't know what I would think but not something nice anyway." Said Winfil Making every word count. Ornis hung his head a little and quickly glanced about making sure nobody was watching them as did Flame. Spyro huffed and walked up to Cynder Eyeing her.

" You do remember we have to be with Earn don't you." The purple dragon asked.

" Yeah not until tomorrow when the cremations happen."

" Well I was thinking that we should start today. The plaques going up today so he might be a little down-"

" He's always sad just now. I don't think a little sign will do much to how bad he already is either." Said Cynder shaking her head. Spyro nodded at her and turned to look at the square. The leaves all over from the towering trees around making it look like it hadn't been cleaned for eons. It was now only five minutes until the plaque would be put up and dragons were starting to come into the square. All of them had solemn and hurt faces. Spyro noticed that the dragons that were alone were the worst. He didn't have to think long to come to the conclusion why. He turned to Cynder smiling a little. He had her safe at his side.

" Should we go then. See the new monument plaque there talking about." Said Flame while heading for the square.

" Right behind you." Ornis huffed getting up. Winfil and the others followed suit and they all stood in front of a large object draped in a blanket to conceal its identity.

" What do you think it is." Ornis asked Winfil. The green dragon shook his head.

" I have just as much of a guess as you do Ornis. Can't wait to see though." He rushed. Spyro looked at the draped object. It looked slightly familiar. Before another thought could run through his mind the three guardians take position in-front of it. Cyril stood up front and raised his head. He was easily seen as upset.

" Tonight, We remember those ones who gave there lives to give us a chance to live. The dragons who done everything they could to save the city. Most of you here have suffered a great loss. But bare this in mind, we will avenge them and we will not let there deaths go in vain. We can have a minutes silence for our loved ones please …" Everybody hung there heads and there were a couple of sniffs and cries somewhere in the crowd. Nothing else could be heard apart from the wind and the trees. The minute seemed to go on for the longest of times.

" I here by give this monument plaque in memory of those who have fallen." Cyril announced signalling the end of the minute. Spyro hugged Cynder and Put and arm round Flame who was next to him. Cynder laid her head on Spyro's shoulder while patting Winfil on the shoulder. Ornis was on Flames right side and had Flames arm draped over his shoulder. They were all thanking that each other were here just now. Cyril walked up to the drapes as did Volteer and Terrador. All three used one paw each and dragged it off revealing the monument. Everyone gasped at its beauty. It was five dragons stationed on top of a pedestal. Each dragon was carved by a different rare stone. The first two dragons were at the bottom and crouched into a battle stance. One was carved in emerald while the other was in sapphire. In between them was another dragon mid-takeoff. It was carved out in gold. The fourth dragon was looking at the sky on the other side of the fifth dragon. Its face was filled with sorrow and regret and it was carved in platinum. The final dragon was the tallest and it was on its hind legs roaring and letting a ball of fire into the air. This one was carved in diamond. At the bottom of the sculptor on the flat forward facing side of the pedestal was the names of all the dragons that had perished. Cynder sighed sadly at how long and wide it was. There must have been over a hundred names.

" Poor souls." Ornis whispered. Spyro could only nod and Flame shook Ornis a little. Winfil hung his head letting a few tears hit the floor.

" We will avenge them." The green dragon said quietly. His voice sounding fierce. The night was young but everyone was tired. The past two nights all of them have been getting next to no sleep due to the feeling of loss being punched through most of their chests. Ornis sniffed a little and wiped his eyes and turned to the others with a half hearted smile.

" I'm going to go to bed then. Want to get a good nights sleep." Said the wind dragon.

" Sweat dreams then." cynder said and gave him a quick hug followed by Flame giving him a mock punch in the arm and then a Quick hug from Winfil. Spyro smiled and touched knuckles with him before he left. Flame watched Ornis leave before turning to the monument. The fire and candles that were used glinted of the reflective surface that was each dragon. Flame couldn't help but let his jaw drop a little again when really looking at the magnificent carving work.

" Its amazing." He said automatically.

" Yes it is. Must have taken a while to carve." Winfil said rubbing his chin. Upon closer inspection they all realized that the dragons were all looking in the same direction.

" What D'you think their staring at." The black dragoness asked. Winfil gave a sad sigh before replying.

" Death." Was all he said. They all turned to Winfil and then back to the monument. It gave such meaning in the phrase yet it gave the eye such beauty to look at. Spyro sighed looking at the top dragon which was roaring fire.

" It would make sense wouldn't it. All of our fallen had stared death in the face before it struc-"

" I think its been enough for one night." Cynder cut in putting the flat side of her tail over the purple dragons mouth. They didn't notice but the guardians had walked up to them.

" I trust you still know you're duties for tomorrow. It _will_ be worse than tonight." Terrador asked. Spyro nodded followed by the rest of the dragons. " Good, perhaps one of you could check in on Earn. Ask him if he needs anything. Food, water. Just try and make conversation with him at least." The earth guardian continued.

" I'll go." Winfil said talking a position in-front of them. " After all I'm also an earth dragon. Maybe since I'm that little bit similar he might open up to me. And iv experienced the loss of my mother - my her soul rest in piece - and that's another link."

" I see you're point. Well make sure and be soft when you see him. Basic conversation first. don't push him." Cyril said looking over to the tent that was just visible between others.

" Well Cyril, Terrador. I suggest we get some rest as well. We have a long day tomorrow and there will be allot more tears to come." Said Volteer while glancing at the large amount of wooden boats that would be used to cremate the fallen dragons.

" Agreed. We shall see you all tomorrow then. And Winfil," He paused giving a Considerate look. " Try you're best with Earn."

" I will." Replied Winfil With a sympathetic face. With that The guardians left and the four dragons were on there own again.

" I can't imagine what He'll be like tomorrow when we cremate them all." Said Cynder while shaking head.

" I'm sure Earn will be alright tomorrow. Fair enough more degraded than today but he wont do anything bad I suspect." Said Spyro in a matter-of-fact tone. Winfil then started to look in the direction of the green dragons tent.

" I best be off then shall I."

" Yeah. I guess so. But be careful. As Terrador said, don't push hi-" Cynder started but was cut of by Winfil holding up a paw.

" I know, don't push him to far." Cynder nodded at the earth dragon before giving him a quick hug before leaving.

" see you tomorrow then." Spyro said patting him on the shoulder then following Cynder to their tent. Only Flame and Winfil were left in the square. The candles were starting to falter under the strengthening wind and leaves were being blown up like the flightless gliders they are.

" Guess I'll get you to half way to Earn's tent, mines is just over their." Said Flame pointing to a red tinted tent that was on the way to Earn's. They both walked in silence not mentioning anything. It wasn't until moments later when Flame reached his tent he spoke.

" Listen man. If there's anything you need or if you need help with him." He pointed to Earn's tent. " Just give me a shout." Flame smiled a and held up his paw with his knuckled on the outside. Winfil smiled and tapped his knuckled with his own.

" Wish me luck then. Good night."

" Good night." Said Flame. Flame then entered the tent and closed the draped doors and slumped onto the bed. Winfil stood for a moment rooted to the ground. How would he even start the conversation with Earn. He new he couldn't just go up and talk about general things, Earn was still to far gone for that. The earth dragon took a deep breath and started for the tent.

" What to say." Winfil Whispered to Himself. It was true. Even if he started a conversation and it was a long shot, he didn't know how to get the point across that him and the others will be with Earn tomorrow. Winfil came to the door of the tent and took a final breath before taking a step into the tent.

" Earn." He asked softly. His head entered through the draped doors and he scanned the tent for any sign of the dragon. Star was still were she had been for the past two nights now. That eerie soft smile still on her snout.

" Earn." Said Winfil stronger now but he got no reply. He took a gulp and walked fully into the tent. Upon seeing no sign of the green dragon he started to panic. Winfil's head shot around as he looked for the dragon. Still no sign.

" Damn he coul-" But Winfil was cut of by the quiet grumble of a snore. He moved to the right side of the bed upon which Star was and felt relief wash over him. The dragon he had been looking for was behind it and concealed from the frontal view of the tent asleep. Winfil watched Earn sleep for a moment. Even in his sleep his face was still alienated and deep in depression. Winfil sighed sadly.

" You seem to be only an echo of what you once were." He said remorsefully.

"Good night." The earth dragon said to Earn and left. He travelled back to his own tent and fell onto his own bed and not a minute more sleep overcame him. Not five tents away, Spyro and Cynder were still up laying next to each other. Cynder was looking out the tent to were Winfil had just gone into his own. Fear suddenly gripped her as she thought of what could have happened.

" Spyro. Winfil just came back but, its only been five minutes." She said in a whispered of fear.

" It is early. But he didn't seem to be hurt anymore than he was with us. I'm sure if Earn had said anything against him then he would have walked back in looking belittled or something like that. I'm sure he's fine."

" but what if-" Cynder started but Spyro held up a talon.

" There are millions of what if's. but it only takes one to make another react in the wrong way." Said Spyro. In truth Cynder did calm down a little. " Gees I sounded like Cyril or the Chronicler there." the purple dragon said producing a small laugh from both himself and Cynder.

" it's a cold one tonight." the black dragoness stated looking up at the clear sky which housed a bitingly cold wind.

" it is." Said Spyro draping a wing over Cynder. She breathed happily and snugged closer to Spyro putting her head under his neck.

" Sweet dreams my love." Whispered Spyro. Cynder chuckled a little under his head.

" You said we wouldn't call each other by those terms until were at least married and life-mates." She whispered back.

" Well its not bad if it's the truth." Spyro whispered back. Cynder chuckled again and let herself drift. Spyro did the same and soon they were both asleep. The wind outside starting to moan as it blew through the trees and small gaps causing the wind in some places to whistle as well.

The next day the wind had made the morning painfully cold. Cold enough that the rain started to fall as snow and there was a light dusting of ice all around the village. The sun however had other plans and was bursting through the clods giving a beam of warmth into the land. Earn lay awake staring at the sky outside his tent. He had been awake for nearly an hour now thinking of the things to come. He looked at Star knowing that his times looking at her were numbered. He new it was for the best to give her a safe send of and that she could be happy. Across and up two tents Flame was just coming out.

" damn its cold." He said shaking his a little. He walked over to Spyro's and Cynder's tent with the intent of getting them up. The cremation was after all in the next two hours. Getting to the draped doors of the tapped.

" Guys are you awake yet." Asked Flame feeling a little weird speaking through a tent. He heard some ruffling and a groan as someone got up.

" Yes I'm up now." Spyro's said coming out the tent shivering at the cold air. Flame could see Cynder still sound asleep inside.

" Shouldn't you wake Cynder as well." Flame asked. Spyro turned and gave a quick look at Cynder's sleeping form and turned back to Flame.

" No. She's fine just now. Besides we need to go get Winfil. Breakfast wont wait." Said Spyro as his stomach rumbled causing them both to laugh a little.

" Well then…To the Winfil tent." Flame said in a fast, acknowledging tone while saluting at Spyro. Flame could always make anybody smile.

" You wake him." Spyro said two minutes later while pointing into a tent which housed the sleeping Winfil. Flame frowned at the purple dragon then smiled.

" Is big mister unstoppable purple dragon boy to scared to wake someone up." Said Flame in a smug voice. Spyro paused then narrowed his eyes at the red dragon.

" Yeah I'm scared to wake someone up, I'm also scared of sheep." Spyro said sarcastically. " Of course not, its just that well. He'll be a little moody with however wakes him up-"

" Ah, but what if we both wake him up." Flame said raising an inquisitive paw pointing a talon back and fourth between the two of them.

" Fine." Said Spyro rolling his eyes.

" Winfil." They both whispered entering the tent. They expected to see the green dragon deep in sleep but he was gone. Just an empty hamper of blankets and a blown out candle of a rickety table.

" Must have gone out." Flame said shrugging his shoulders. Spyro looked round the tent then huffed while turning out.

" He needs to be with us as well if we want to look after Earn well enough."

" Who needs to be with you." Came a voice. The two dragons turned to see Ornis standing next to Winfil. Ornis had some redness round his mouth. Flame burst out laughing at Spyro's side.

" Take it you had a nice breakfast then Orny." he said after a few minutes laughing. Ornis turned to Winfil who then smiled as well pointing to his own mouth. Ornis's eyes widened at the dawning of what they had meant.

" You don't mean to say I stood there and talked to not one, but two dragoness's with this maw." Said Ornis becoming red.

" Hah, Yup." Winfil said before laughing as well. Ornis growled and turned to Spyro.

" Hey could you rustle up some water or something. Need to wash this out Y'know."

" Sure thing." Spyro said before he pulled the water from all the iced over puddles and controlled it so it hovered just above Ornis's jaw. " On you go." The purple dragon said smiling. Ornis thrust his paws into the cold water then started to rub his lower jaw hard.

" The dragon likes his cleanliness doesn't he." Flame chuckled after Ornis finished with the water and signalled Spyro to drop it. Winfil however narrowed his eyes at Ornis before a smile spread across his face.

" You may have got the blood and sauce of but in the process you've made you're jaw red." Said Winfil now chuckling along with the others. Ornis let his face fall into a frown and he pressed his lips together.

" I'm glad I make you laugh on a day like this. The same thing happened yesterday. Remember, we shouldn't be acting like this yet. What with all that's happened. Flame gave a low whimper as he remembered Winfil's words from the night before.

" You're right. Guys how about you tag along with us back to the breakfast tents and by the time my and Spyro have finished we can go and wake cynder up." the red dragon proposed. Winfil and Ornis both nodding at Flame.

" Great. Of we go then, my stomach can't handle another second of this torture.

Spyro walked back after having lamb with wheat and some milk on the side in a mug which the cheetahs used. Flame had the exact same except he had freshly squeezed mango juice as-a-pose to the milk. The four dragons were in a row and were headed to Spyro's tent to retrieve Cynder. Spyro, having been fully replenished and wide awake now was thinking of the day ahead of him. He had the cremation at twelve and it was now half ten. He had to stay with Earn through the whole thing. He sighed but his face lifted knowing that his friends would be there with him.

" So Cynder will take the left side with Winfil while me and spy take the right." Flame started to tell the others referring to the sides they would be on when they got Earn.

" And me?" Ornis asked, Flame having not mentioned him. The red dragon turned his head to the wind dragon and smiled.

" You'll be behind him in-case he makes a brake for it." Said Flame. Ornis nodded thinking it through before giving Flame an agreeing smile. By now they were at Spyro's tent which was lager than Flames, Winfil's and Ornis's due to there being both him and Cynder in it. Spyro stopped before the door.

" Be back in a sec." He said disappearing between the drifting, thin doors. Spyro stopped seeing Cynder still deep in sleep. He always had to remind himself that she was his and he was hers whenever he could. He thought of himself as being the luckiest dragon in the world but for now, he was the living alarm clock. He bent down and nudged the her back slowly.

" Cynder. Hey Cynder time to get up, we got things to do." He said. Cynder stirred sheepishly before getting up and stretching her arms.

" What time is it." she asked before yawning.

" eleven." Spyro said simply. Cynder's drowsy eyes shot open fully as if she had heard a gunshot.

" Are you serious. You let me sleep this late when the cremation starts at twelve." She said thrusting the blankets back into their square original position. Spyro shrugged but quickly backtracked when seeing Cynder's low frown. He raised his paws in defense.

" Hey now, I only thought you deserve a good-"

" Don't give me that nonsense." She snapped cutting Spyro of. She was about to speak again when she heard the faint sniggering of the other three dragons who were outside. " Who's outside." She asked. After this the three dragons started to cry in laughter and cynder stepped out the tent to see her friends in a fit of laughter. She stood watching and her face fell lower and lower as time went on. Finally Ornis composed himself and looked at the dragoness.

" It was something else we were laughing at. But the fact that you both sound like an old married couple only added."

" Well that and Winfil fell on his face over some melting ice." Flame said pointing to a snout reddening Winfil.

" Ha, ha, ha." Winfil sarcastically and shook his head. Spyro then came out from the tent and started to hold back some laughter himself at Winfil's snout. The sun had now made a good job of thawing out the ice and making the day quite warm. The melted ice however was evaporating so fast that it was causing a fine mist to appear over the ground.

" Well I suspect we should perhaps go to the shore where the boats are. I'm sure the guardians will be there as well." Spyro said as he started for the shore. Just outside the villages limits was a large lake that bent around a high peaking mountain before hitting the sea. Lined across the shore which was just off the wall were a good amount of boats. They were not built very well but they wouldn't be if they're sole purpose was to be burned. Upon arrival there the five dragons seen a small crowd starting to already mount on the shore line. In the head of the mass were the guardians. Terrador, once seeing the dragons made his way through to them. His face was low which intern made the five dragons start to become a little more depressed.

" We're getting the…the fallen ready now." Terrador said stammering over the words fallen. Spyro nodded looking over at the boats which now had dozens of dragons in them. What was funny is that they were all in such good condition that they could have been sleeping for all he new. " You should get Earn now. We need Star and I don't want him there when we come for her."

" We'll go now." Flame said instantly turning and walking away. Terrador stared after him and sighed.

" He'll need all the help he can get to move Earn. Go with him." He said to the other dragons. Winfil, Ornis and Cynder all started to leave without a word. Knowing what was coming and the sight they had just seen, who would.

" we'll try our best Terrador. But I think this is the calm before the storm. I just don't want to hear him when we send the boats out."

" I know." Said Terrador nodding at the purple dragon. Spyro turned and raced away catching up to the others who were only minutes away from Earn's tent. They had all stopped and were now conferring over how to get him out.

" We should say we have a surprise for him and take him to the cheetahs archery range. Make him spend a half hour there while the guardians get Star." Flame said with a hint of sadness.

" Its an idea but I think its to obvious." Winfil replied. " Perhaps we should just ask him simply to come for a walk with us." He continued. Ornis nodded at this and turned to Cynder.

" Maybe you should ask him though. Since you're good with feelings and all-"

" What. I barely know him and the tension will be insane."

" But you were the one that first comforted him when Star died. We'll have more chance if you do it." Ornis said. Cynder pressed her lips and thought for a moment before nodding. She didn't say a word as she passed Winfil and Flame headed for Earns tent. Upon arrival the green dragon was in his usual stance. Sitting with his head hung next to star. Cynder took a breath before entering.

" Earn." She asked softly. The green dragon twitched a little.

" What." He said in a broken whisper. Cynder sighed and walked up to him.

" We want you to, well…come for a walk with us-"

" let me guess. I know there cremating everyone on boats. I'm going to further guess and say that you are all going to take me away from here while they take Star." Said Earn with some ferocity behind his voice. He lifted his head letting his eyes fall onto the black dragoness. Cynder could only nod at Earn. The green dragon looked at Star again. " Its what she probably would have wanted." He sighed and got up to Cynder's astonishment. " We should leave now." He continued

Just up from the tent, Spyro and Winfil were listening hard while Ornis and Flame figured out what to do when they got him but when they saw Earn walk out the tent not five minutes after Cynder entered, the purple dragons jaw hit the floor.

" How did you do that." Spyro asked Cynder when she stopped in-front of him. She shrugged her shoulders and leant in closer.

" I didn't do anything. He just said that its what Star would have wanted. Spyro was a little taken aback from this but new it was a good start having him out with them. The purple dragon leaned in closer to Cynder.

" Well lets just hope he stays with us then hmm." Said Spyro with slight sound of uncertainty. Cynder nodded and looked back at Earn. He just stood there while Flame and Winfil tried to make conversation. They were failing dramatically at it. The air was a lot hotter now than it was before so the dragons didn't feel to uncomfortable now. The dragons all walked to the outer wall on the far side of the village. No-one talked which made the suspense like a thick layer on each of them. Ornis, who was in the beside Earn found the courage however to start one. He glanced quickly at Earn who was looking at the floor not paying attention to his surroundings.

" Hey sport. Did you hear about Flame. Apparently he got a fail in his guardian training back in Warfang." The wind dragon said hopping for a response.

" hmm." was all Earn said. Ornis nodded to himself though for getting a response out of the green dragon. Spyro, who was up leading the group was looking up at the sun which was now in mid point.

" We should head for the shore now." He whispered to Flame and Cynder who were on either side while. he hung his head. Cynder nodded at him while looking up at the sun.

" Yeah its about time." Flame replied with a sigh. Spyro turned to the gates that were not far from him and started for them. Earn took a quick look at where they were headed and seen the big black gates. He new were they led and he braced himself. Not a minute more and they were through them. Upon leaving the village gates, just on the other side were all the dragons sitting much like they did the night before. This time however they were all crying tears of pain. The boats were lined up against the shore and had sails on them ready to go with dragon stationed at each of them. Earn felt himself buckle under the sudden weight of his heart.

" Earn!" Ornis said in shock and held him up. The tears had started in the green dragons eyes already. At the front were the guardians. All of them with pain in there eyes. Terrador took the lead this time as he stood a little in front of them. He took a deep breath and composed himself before speaking.

" Our ancestors tell us of a magical place beyond that of our own world. Were there is no fear, pain or sadness. Were dragons and other creatures can live in peace and happiness. I stand here today with a heavy heart. Our loses are great and theres no hiding it, painful as well. But we must look to the future if we are to strive towards getting our city back. These dragons died saving their loved ones and their city. They in battle. But believe me when I say this as Cyril said not twelve hours ago…we will not let their deaths go in vain." Cyril lifted a paw and closed his eyes letting some tears float down before brining it down. The dragons all pushed each boat out into the water releasing the sails before sending a small spark to each of them causing them to burn. The fire started slow at first but it increased in strength on each boat until they were completely consumed.

" May the ancestors look over you as you pass thought to the great beyond." Terrador concluded as the boats started to shrink of into the distance. Cynder, who was silently crying against Spyro's shoulder was looking over at Earn who had a stream of tears coming from his eyes. Cynder and the others could still stand but Earn, Earn had to be held up or he would fall to the ground. They all listened to the fire cracking on the boats until they were a mere line on the horizon. Ornis and Winfil, who were holding Earn up bent in closer to him.

" C'mon Earn. Time to go." Ornis said quietly. The green dragon nodded and started to leave with Ornis and Winfil close behind. Flame went along with them as well. Cynder watched as they began to leave and turned to Spyro, calming down now.

" Should we go with them." She asked. Spyro shook his head slowly.

" Those three will most definitely take care of him even without us." Cynder couldn't answer but just hugged the purple dragon before they left back for the village. Up in front Earn, Winfil, Ornis and Flame were talking the long way around on the outside of the wall which hugged the woods. Not a single word had been spoken since they left the shore. Earn was still letting tears fall from his face while the other three silently felt pain for their friend. Flame was walking when he suddenly saw something in the woods. A cloaked figure drifting in between the trees. Not wanting to cause a stir after the recent events Flame slowed down a little.

" Hey guys, I'm meant to see Cyril for some reason I just remembered. I'll catch you up." He said simply. Winfil and Ornis nodded while Earn kept his eyes at front and said nothing. Flame backed away until the rounded the lazy bend and were out of sight before turning to the forest.

" Who's out there." He asked. No one replied but just before he was about to turn, he saw it. The cloaked figure danced past two trees in direct sight of Flame. The fire dragon growled slightly and took of into the forest after the figure.

" Stop whoever you are." He yelled once clear of the village. The trees raced past him as he nearly flew past them. Upon reaching where he saw the figure Flame stopped and surveyed the area but seen no one.

" what the." He began as he turned but suddenly, right in-front of him was the figure. " Gahh." Flame yelped and jumped back blinking his eyes but when he opened them the figure was gone. The fire dragon, now scared shot his eyes and head in very direction looking for the figure.

" Where are you." He asked again a little more timidly than last time. He heaved himself back onto his paws and kept his eyes everywhere. But he couldn't see the figure anywhere. He took one step forward before he felt a sudden pain of his back before he was swiped of his paws and landed on his back staring up at the figure in front of him.

" Who…Who are you." Said Flame stammering over his words. The figure stood motionless before bringing a claw up to its hood and bringing it down. Flame stood with wide eyes as he stared at the dragon before him.

" Ember."


	3. Planning

Flame stood up staring at the pink dragoness with his jaw wide open and eyes like saucers. Standing in-front of Flame was the was the dragoness he loved secretly. Ember. Unlike Flame though, she did not seem surprised or even glad to see Flame again. She simply stood staring back at him with no expression.

" E-Ember. Its you." Flame nearly yelled. Ember stood motionless staring at the red dragon. She didn't say so much as a word. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pulled into a large smile. " Ember say something." Flame persisted. Ember only smiled more widely at him. The sunshine starting to burst through the trees at some moments. Ember took a small step forward and seemed to falter on her euphoric state.

" Hello Flame, and goodbye Flame." She nearly laughed the words at the red dragon. Suddenly Flame felt a whoosh noise and almost instantly after, something stabbed into the side of his body. Flame snapped his head round to see a dart that was dripping in some sort of resin. Flame turned up looking bewildered at Ember.

" What. W-What is that…" He started but the dragon started to wobble before falling onto his side asleep. Ember stood watching him again and then laughed a little.

" Good work Fillasia. Couldn't have done a better job if I tried." She said as a dragon with blue scales walked out of the bushes shaking her head.

" I don't understand why you didn't have me kill him."

" Simple. He isn't evil, its Cynder that's evil and she must die but I will harm no other dragon on my mission to do so." Ember shot back at Fillasia. The blue dragon shook her head at Ember.

" You need to let you're ties go. Become immune from attachment-"

" You couldn't possibly be serious. I will just rid the world of Cynder then all will go back to normal." Ember continued. She Stomped her foot in the wake of her words before looking at the unconscious Flame on the ground. Fillasia followed her gaze then looked back at Ember with a slight grin.

" Y'know he likes you." She said in the same tone a small child would if caught downing something wrong.

" I don't care and don't want to know about it." She barked. The pink dragoness then turned and started for the deeper woods now, much to Fillasia's dismay.

" Leaving already. Surly you of all people want to stay here, where _he_ is for a little longer. Or am I not getting your drift correctly." There was definitely some tension between the two dragonesses. The wind then made itself known. Gusting through the trees making them sway a little. The sun that was being blocked from the trees overlapping branches caused the undergrowth to be colder than outside the forest. Ember stopped at Fillasia's words and rounded on her with a stern face.

" I'm leaving so I don't distract any of them. I came here only to see if Cynder was still alive and I did. I only ran into him on my way out. And besides I still have to pay of a dept to that disgusting dragoness back in Warfang." She said stiffly. Fillasia grinned at her words and trotted lightly up to her side.

" C'mon then we best not be staying here long. That dragon w-"

" That dragon has a name." Ember cut in. Fillasia rolled her eyes.

" Flame will not be out for long. The stuff I got from the medical mole we have said it only lasts for roughly an hour with dragons. If used with only this amount though." She said snapping the bamboo launcher. " I don't like to use stuff made by cheetahs."

" Are we going." Ember asked a little impatient. Fillasia came out of her little rant and nodded. Both of them vanished into the forest leaving not trace they were ever there. Flame lay there for an hour before any signs of movement could be seen. The red dragon grunted and moved his front paws a little before cracking an eye open slowly. His muscles felt dead with the toxin that was only just making its way out his body. Everything around him looked different. Flame had a little memory loss lingering around his mind leaving him disorientated. The dragonesses were long gone and had left no trace of being there. Flame was alone.

" Where am I." He said to himself. He slowly stood up shaking his wings a little along with his head. Flame looked around and realising he was in the forest started to panic. He snapped his head up seeing that he couldn't fly up and out due to the branches. Flame started to panic more until his head became flooded with memory's.

" Ember." he whispered remembering what had happened nor long ago. He looked up into the sky to see it was now past midday. " I need to get back." He said sadly. The red dragon spun round and headed back for the village.

" What about the other cities. Wartalon, Warbrin." Volteer asked, obviously nerved by something. Terrador new that in the beginning there were four cities Wartalon, Warbrin, Warhorn and Warfang. They were known as the four Ws and housed the entire dragon population in the world. Each city had an advantage point whenever war came. Wartalon had the fastest dragons for the air. Warbrin had the most intelligent inhabitants of dragons. Warfang was the all-rounder. Warfang had extremely good fighters in its army and its why it is now the lead city. Warhorn However was the lead city when it came to war. It had the best war dragons from all cities and it was the largest of the four. Terrador also new that it was that reason that it fell. The city was far to confident and that's what drove it to its own demise. Cyril opened his mouth to speak several times but closed it every time. The three guardians were sat in the tent again with chief Prowlus and Hunter looking at the scroll Hunters hawk had brought back.

" The other cities are to far for the whole population of Warfang to go to." Terrador sighed. He new there was no chance of all the dragons making it across the vast deserts to Wartalon and he new there was no way of getting past Dante's freezer in one peace to Warbrin.

" Well you are safe to call here base just now." Said Chief Prowlus. Sounding like he was forcing the words a little. Spyro and Cynder then walked into the tent with a large grin on there faces.

" And those smiles would be for." Volteer asked.

" Ah because today went well with Earn. Seemed like he's coming out of his depression." Cynder said cheerfully. Spyro chuckled standing next to his side.

" That is correct Cynder. And well done to you two for you're effort. Where are Winfil and Flame. They should be here. Ornis as well for that matter." Cyril said. Spyro looked at Cynder before looking back at Cyril.

" I have no idea." He said shrugging his shoulders. " But I could go get them if you want me to." Spyro asked. Cyril shook his head while smiling.

" I admire your effort to help young one but I need not speak to them right now-"

" Yes that reminds me. What's the commotion in the tent about." Spyro said cutting in to Cyril's words.

" I agree, we need to know what's our plan of action." Cynder said nodding to Cyril. The large blue dragon frowned a little then turned to Terrador who gave him one nod. Volteer however shook his head rapidly but Cyril came to the decision not to tell them just now. He turned back to the two young dragons smiling warmly.

" Nothing that concerns you both." He said softly before motioning to the door. Spyro narrowed his eyes at them but turned none the less and walked out with Cynder close by him. Spyro sighed as soon as they were outside and turned to Cynder. The now bursting out sun reflecting of his scales.

" Their hiding something." Was all he said. Cynder rolled her eyes and she huffed a little while putting a paw up to the purple dragons cheek.

" I'm sure its for the best then. After all, what could they possibly hide from us that could be worse than what we've been through." Cynder said making them both chuckle a little. Spyro once again was caught by Cynder's beauty and stopped dead looking at her. Cynder laughed due to Spyro's mouth being a little open. " Don't drool now. Or you'll have to take a bath and _I _might join you." She said playfully and pecked the purple dragon on the cheek. Spyro huffed and muttered something about his mouth not being open even though it was. He was stopped however when he saw Flame sprinting towards them. Spyro was about to say something witty but when he seen the red dragons face, panic took over.

" Flame, Flame. What's wrong." Spyro nearly shouted at him. Flame took a moment to recover his breath before speaking, all the time Cynder was shooting her head around to see if anyone was chasing him. Flame finally got enough breath to speak and raised his head.

" Ember…." Was all he said before taking some more deep breathes. Spyro felt a little scepticism as to why Flame was in such fear when after all it was the dragoness of his dreams he was referring to.

" Flame stop panicking and calm down before you speak." Spyro said putting a paw on Flames shoulder. The red dragons wide eyes slowly returned to their normal size as did his breathing return to its normal rhythm.

" It was Ember. I want into the forest when I saw something in there and it turned out it was her-"

" Wow wait. If you saw her then why isn't she here. Surly she wanted to see if we were all intact or at least alive." Spyro said a little puzzled. Flame only shook his head, his face looking grim.

" I didn't have time to ask. Heck I didn't say much before I was stuck with a dart. What made it weird was that the only words Ember said were _Hello Flame, and goodbye Flame._ That was before I got hit with the dart. I managed to slur something like 'why' or something but I was knocked unconscious before I could hear an answer. I was out for a while I thin firstly because when I woke up, it was past midday and Ember was gone. It was as if she wasn't even there." Flame sighed and hung his head digging his claws into the ground. Cynder gave Spyro a what-should-we-do look and Spyro only nodded to the red dragon making Cynder a little confused.

" Why don't you try and forget about it just now. You wont be doing much good moping around thinking about her."

" I know." Flame said nodding his head slowly. " Its just that it was so … unexpected. To see her like that then for her to disappear. It makes me have so many questions-"

" Which can wait for another time." Spyro said putting a paw up in-front of Flames mouth. " For now we have to … basically survive until we figure out how to get Warfang back."

" Easier said then done Spy." Cynder said giving him a small smile. Spyro laughed a little at her.

" Well we had better try and _survive _then." The purple dragon said sarcastically. In reality Spyro was on the edge of getting Flame to take him to the place he saw Ember. There he could use shadow trace and find out where she had gone but he new better than to just jump into things. " Lets go get Winfil and Ornis. Betcha can't beat me at water skimming-"

" What, making the stones skim across the surface." Flame cut in. The Ember drawer firmly shut now with the aspect of a contest on the horizon. Spyro nodded his head.

" Yes. pond skimming, throwing a flat rock and seeing how many times it bounces of the water and my friend, I am the master." Said Spyro extremely confident in himself.

" All that's correct apart from the time I b-"

" Hush Cynder. They don't know this new news yet." Spyro whispered in panic holding a paw on her mouth. The black dragoness started to giggle under his paw. Flame rose of his haunches and made a start for Winfil's tent.

" Off we go then." He said.

" Yea. And to my victory we shall go." Spyro laughed as he said it. The three dragons walked deeper into the village to retrieve the other two dragons.

Back in the main tent that housed the guardians, stress levels were reaching peak levels. There was, however, no silence. Cyril stared with a solemn expression at the new information scribbled on the notes in-front of him. On it was the handwritten of a mole, saying.

_I haven't got much time. Verena and her shadow dragons are planning something big. They've managed to recruit apes somehow even though Spyro killed them all. Two more dragons have been brought in as well. I couldn't make it the scales of them but I no that both of them are female. There's talk about brining a master back from the dead at all costs going about. I also hear that Verena is going to send her part of her shadows numbers to retrieve the artefacts needed to revive this so called master. I don't know where these artefacts are but one is meant to be in Warbrin while the others are in the Forests. They also have said they already have one in there possession. That's all iv got time for. Send the hawk back in the next three days when you can._

" We can't just sit idly by as Verena attempts to resurrect Malefor." Yelled Terrador brining a paw onto the table making everyone jump.

" And we can't just run blindly into war." Cyril countered making Terrador growl. " Terrador, see reason. If we run blindly into war the outcome will be worse than what has past. Surly you see that." Cyril continued now trying to justify his statement. The didn't see Chief Prowlus take a couple of steps forward.

" Gentlemen if I may. We are on the road to try and take the city back by force. But perhaps that isn't the path. Perhaps instead of talking on their whole army and losing more dragons and cheetahs alike. We should target there weaker points." Seeing the bewildered look on the three dragons faces, Chief Prowlus grinned. " The mole states that a set amount of troops will be leaving soon to retrieve artefacts to resurrect this _Master_ of Verena's. I wager we attack those few who leave and slowly shrink their army until we can most definitely win." He finished and let it sink in for a minute. Cyril was deep in thought while Volteer and Terrador were shaking there heads slowly. Terrador was the first to speak.

" If we do start a resurgence by killing those who carry out the retrieval of the artefacts then that means sending some of our most skilled dragons out for them. And with our defences already shortened to a little over ten dragons, we'll leave ourselves defenceless."

" But what you don't understand is that we have dragons we can send." Cyril countered. Terrador squinted his eyes at the ice guardian who only looked back with the same stare.

" What are you suggesting Cyril." Asked The earth guardian Inquisitively.

" Who are the strongest dragons here." Cyril said through a smile. Volteer started to nod his head mumbling extravagant words to himself.

" You're referring to Spyro and Cynder-"

" Exactly." Cyril confirmed with a gleaming face. Terrador started shaking his head again though.

" They have done enough I think. I don't want to put that much pressure on them again." Cyril sighed at the green dragon. He new that in a way Terrador was right but he also new that Spyro and Cynder would be all to happy to help the dragons .

" They will want to help and if they see us sending other dragons away to do the job. Its most likely that they will follow and join anyway." Said Cyril with a wave of confidence. Terrador thought for a moment. He thought of possible ways to avoid getting any of the younger dragons into this but he just couldn't.

" If I may make a suggestion." Hunter asked pointing a finger to himself.

" Please do." Volteer said, speaking for the first time in a normal voice and vocabulary.

" Aren't most of the dragons that are the next generation meant to become the new guardians. The way I see it is that this will be there final training. Life and death situations. They will have to deal with many once they become a guardian so…" Hunter walked up to the table from where he stood and pointed to the note. " Five dragons come to mind. Spyro, Cynder, Flame, Winfil and Ornis." The cheetah rattled of the names. With each name passing Terrador's face grew lower and lower until he was frowning at Hunter.

" Do you expect a group of adolescent dragons to accomplish such a task. And if they do then they will also have to do it not once, not twice, but at least as many times as there are artefacts. They will also, as well have to try and find these objects and bring them here. Stopping them from getting whatever the artefacts are." The earth dragon argued. He stood there as if he were glued to the spot staring back at the note. Hunter stood and waited until he was finished while Cyril and Volteer looked at hunter with anticipation for the new prospect. Chief Prowlus however glared at The earth dragon for speaking to his fellow warrior in such a manner. Terrador took a deep breath before continuing. " I think we should no-"

" But of coarse. Sorry Terrador but Iv been silently thinking it through and it works out." Cyril said cutting in to Terrador. The green dragon shook his head more in disappointment than anger. " Think about it Terrador. Spyro has already proven he is worthy of such a task as has Cynder. We only have to trust the others like we had trusted Spyro and Cynder in the beginning. Can't you see this is the only way in reality." Cyril stopped and looked for help from Volteer who stood with his mouth shut. He turned quickly to the cheetahs who thankfully were smiling. Chief Prowlus stepped forward as if to answer Cyril's silent plea.

" Guardian Terrador. As much as I don't like sending young ones to do the job, I have to agree with Cyril. He has a point after all. Both Spyro and Cynder have saved the planet and defeated the strongest dragon to have ever lived. I think that's reason enough to th-"

" Enough. You have succeeded in turning the tables in my head." Terrador snapped stopping Chief Prowlus. " If we send those five then they need to be prepared for the task ahead. Hunter."

" Yes Terrador."

" Send you're hawk back now." Terrador said while he started to pace and enter the war mode. Hunter shook his head while watching the green dragon pace.

" The mole said-"

" The mole doesn't know how desperate we are. Fair enough send are apologies for the quick reply but we need to know exactly when their leaving and where they will be headed." He near enough ordered. Hunter gave a worried glance to Cyril who merely returned a this-is-how-he-acts look back while rolling his eyes. Chief Prowlus on the other hand was getting into it and took a couple of steps around the table to the map the realms. They were situated due north of Warfang and well over five-hundred miles away. To far for an army to make without stopping.

" We need to inform the dragons of our decision." Chief Prowlus announced.

" Not yet. We must figure out what we're to do as well. Perhaps we should wait until we have solid information from the mole." Said Cyril disagreeing with the cheetah. Terrador had kept pacing deep in thought. Cyril though just for a second had doubt plunged into him. What if the young ones were to fail. After all this was a completely new challenge. 'Spyro wont fail' Cyril thought to himself. He new it just as well as the others that the young purple dragon was now near enough invincible with his still new found power. Cyril new all to well what Oryps could do when he came into power so with Spyro endowed with all the powers of the darker side, he should be a force to be reckoned with. This put a small but still half hearted smile onto the ice guardian. Volteer noticed this but thought better than to ask. Sadly, Terrador had noticed as well and had no intention of keeping it to himself.

" And what makes you so all-of-a-sudden sad." He barked. The ice dragon looked straight at Terrador with a slight look of caution in his eyes.

" I merely thought about past events." Said Cyril coolly. Terrador sighed at the thought of past events and returned to his pacing.

" We need to train the others of the group if they are to go. Flame, Ornis and Winfil." Hunter started. " But we need you, Terrador to train Winfil due to him being an earth dragon. As for Flame and Ornis-"

" Spyro can train Flame but Cynder will have to train Ornis. Him being a wind dragon which are quite rare." All three guardians nodded in agreement.

" Well we should tell them, I-know-you-don't-want-them-to-know-but-its-necessary." Chief Prowlus said in one breath quickly after the glare he got from Cyril. " They need to know. What harm can it do." The cheetah continued. This time getting a defeated look from the Ice guardian. Chief Prowlus smiled as he new he had one against the dragon and turned to Terrador.

" Shall I send for them all now." He asked. Terrador stopped for a moment then only nodded. " Hunter could yo-" But Hunter had already left before Chief Prowlus could finish, making him grunt in dissatisfaction. Hunter walked through the village without a word. Only a nod and a small smile to some other cheetahs and dragons. Hunter was also silently thinking over what will happen and the possible outcome of sending the young dragons on the mission. He new as much as the others did that they could defend themselves but it was a case of if they could handle it. The cheetah moved through several tents and wooden houses until he found himself standing outside Spyro's and Cynder's tent. With quick glance to make sure no one was looking he walked in. Inside he found no one. The bed covers were made and there was no sighn of the dragon. Hunter looked about frantically before jumping back outside. His heart was set to rest however when he hear the dragons he wanted to hear. Hunter jogged out the huddle of tents and down to the stream to find the five dragons skimming stones across the lake. Spyro turned to pick another rock when he noticed the cheetah. Hunter walked over to the dragons who still didn't see him. Spyro looked at the cheetah with confusion.

" Hunter. What are you here." Said Spyro letting out a small but notably worried chuckle.

" I was here to retrieve you for the guardians-"

" For the guardians." Spyro interrupted. Hunter raised a hand to stop him.

" Yes. Now we do have news. We've recently received a letter from a mole we have still within Warfang. And from what he tells us, there planning something in there. Something big."

" What exactly." Spyro asked.

" Perhaps its best if you were all in the guardians tent to know what is going to happen." Said Hunter pointing at the others who where now starting to notice him before standing up leaving the shore.

" We'll be there as soon as possible." Spyro called after him. The purple dragon felt movement from his side and looked down to see Cynder gazing up at him with her sparkling emerald eyes. Spyro had become lost in them as soon as they both locked eye contact. Cynder let out a mild laugh.

" Like them."

" As many times as iv said it. Yes." Spyro said sighing happily. " We should be off. Sounded urgent by the way Hunter asked us to go." The purple dragon said with a hint of concern in his voice.

" Sometimes I wish I could stay there for all eternity." She said looking back at Spyro and putting a paw on his chest. Spyro new what she meant and leaned down giving her a long kiss. Spyro became lost again in the moment. Flame started to make a mock retching sound from behind them causing Ornis to laugh.

" We should probably leave now. I don't want to hear Flame trying to annoy me." Spyro said and glanced to a frowning Flame. " By which I mean playfully annoy of coarse." He quickly said making Cydner giggle.

" So what's the story." Spyro asked ten minutes later while sitting on his haunches inside the guardians tent.

" I agree, what's the urgency." Flame said while sounding board. All five dragons the guardians wanted were sitting listening intently. Cyril smiled a little from where sat with Volteer at his side while Terrador had his eyes closed. The earth guardian let out a long sigh before speaking

" Well there's no easy way to say this say I'll just say it." Terrador started while looking sincere. " Verena is not finished yet. She plans on moving onto the other cities. And then the world. She wants to revive her Master but we have a number of guesses who that could be-"

" Wow wow. How do you know this." Flame asked a little sceptically.

" Flame. If you would only listen to what I have to say before cutting in then you would know." Terrador said flatly to the red dragon. Flame shrank back a little and nodded slowly. " Anyway, As I was saying Verena plans to do so much more. And she hasn't only made more plans. No, she has also added more creatures to her army. Some of which are apes and orcs." Upon saying Apes, Spyro growled a little and Cynder widened her eyes.

" Whoa. Wait didn't we kill all of them in the process of defeating Malefor." Cynder asked, a nervous smile creeping across her face."

" Apparently not. The reason I know this is simple. We have a mole on the inside of Warfang we communicate with. We've recently received another letter from him. Here. Read it for yourselves." Said Terrador tossing the new letter over the five dragons. Spyro looked down at it to see the quick scrawling words from the mole.

_No apologies needed. I have the first four locations from my fellow moles who've been keeping there ears open. I have found out that there is six of them scattered across the planet. The first is in Warbrin and is in their main temple and the artefact itself is a blue diamond. The second and third are in Dante's freezer and are in the old ice caverns. The fourth is in the destroyed mountain of Malefor and is a large crystal. The fifth is in the Rendein desert. I think its between the two springs beside the beginning of the canyon. And the sixth one well that is at the top of Mt Climb. I must warn you that some of these artefacts are well guarded due to the bearer knowing what they can possibly unleash. I advise befriending them first. The two dragons I also mentioned last time I wrote, iv found out their colours. One is a sky blue colour while the other is pink. I could only see their faces. You must make haste on planning actions against Verena. She intends to send out a retrieving party to grasp the first artefact in Warbrin in next to two days. I wish you all the best of luck._

Spyro looked at the words on the page before him several times. His eyes fell upon Flame who was sitting on his left and had finished reading. The red dragon new what Spyro was looking at him for and he felt his eyes read the words _pink_. Cynder then took the note and read it along with Winfil and Ornis.

" So the first one is in Warbrin then." Ornis asked looking up from the note to the guardians who only nodded. " And you haven't sent anyone to retrieve it why." He asked. Terrador gave a serious look at the other guardians before holding his paw out for the note.

" I'll need you're full attention for this." He said sharply. Ornis took the letter form Cynder and handed it to the green dragon with a concerned look on his face. " The reason we brought you here is to tell you something." Terrador looked at them all individually. " No we understand if you don't do this but believe me when I say this was not our first option… We want…you all to do these tasks and retrieve the artefacts." Terrador stopped and closed his eyes, preparing himself for an onslaught of words but nothing came. He cracked open an eye to see the dragons before him conferring. They were huddled in small group and were chatting quickly. Terrador looked to Cyril and Volteer who were equally as baffled by this. As soon as the had started in their group the dragons broke out into a semi circle around the table. Spyro taking the head. The purple dragon took one last look at the letter before smiling.

" We would gladly take on the challenge. It would be an honour." He said slowly. Cyril looked at the other dragons behind Spyro grinning. He thought they would turn it down but apparently not.

" Very well then." Terrador announced coming out of his baffled state. " You shall leave in the next day to travel to Warbrin. If you fly at a constant speed stopping only twice for sleep then you should be in and out of the city before Verena's squad arrives." Terrador finished. Cyril then stepped around the table and stared at the

" Once you have the artefact and have brought it back here you will spend three days training with you're elements. Terrador will teach Winfil. Spyro, I'm sure you could teach Flame some new things and finally Cynder can teach Ornis a phew new things I reckon." Cyril paused for a second thinking before turning to Terrador. " Should they know about our _situation_." He pressed. Terrador shook his head slowly before walking around the ice guardian.

" Now you best be out and spend you're last day here well because you have a hard task ahead of you."

" Thank you." Ornis said bowing.

" Thank you."

" Its an honour."

" Thank you."

" We wont let you down." all the dragons said before bowing. Terrador waved a dismissive paw at them while smiling.

" No, it is I who should be thanking you. Now go, have a good day." The green dragon finished. Spyro nodded to the guardians and also to Hunter and Chief Prowlus before walking out. The other dragons mimicked Spyro and then followed him out and into the square. Flame was walking next to Ornis and was shaking with the urge to bring up the subject of Ember. He new that there was a chance the mole was referring to her. He walked there for a little longer before he couldn't help it.

" Do you think the mole meant Ember." He blurted out. Spyro stopped in his tracks and turned to Flame who had worry in his eyes. This caused Spyro to feel sorrow for him as he began to speak.

" The only pink dragon I know is Ember. If it were me then I would think it was." Flame shuddered a little at the purple dragons words. " But there's got to be hundreds of pink dragoness' in the world so I would jump to conclusions Flame." Said Spyro putting a comforting paw on his shoulder.

" Yeah, Spyro's right. It can't be her." Ornis agreed an Flame turned to Winfil whom only nodded. Flame then hung his head looking directly at the ground.

" Thanks guys. I don't know what id do without you." He said mournfully.

" C'mon, we never actually found out who could pond skim the best." Spyro laughed.

" Betcha I can do the most." Cynder said competitively.

" Yeah right. I can whip your ass at pond skimming…I am the master." Ornis said causing Cydner to frown at him.

" Very nice figure of speech."

" Hey its only what you said it is, a figure of speech." Ornis retorted and then started to laugh at the overacting Cynder.

" You know that the legendary purple dragon can do the most cause I can just control the rock and the water at the same time." Said Spyro smugly.

" In that case I'll use wind." Ornis countered but was met by a whatever-then look from Spyro.

" Right guys. Its all fun and games to see who can pond skim the furthest but what it really comes down to is who's the fastest here." Flame started. " Race you all to the shore." The red dragon yelled before taking off for the shore closely followed by the other dragons.

Night time was creeping in and the guardians were going back over about what was to happen and fine tuning all of there plans.

" So, So we're going to try and get the city back after the sixth artefact has been retrieved." Volteer asked. Cyril nodded as did Terrador.

" Yes but we will need a further week of preparing before we launch any attack of the sort on the city." Said Cyril, irritation clearly in his voice.

" Well then. On another no-" Terrador started but was cut off.

" Hello there." Came a voice. All three guardians turned to see someone they didn't expect to see in the door to their tent. His green scales reflecting of the moonlight. Terrador took a phew tentative steps forward.

" Earn."

Earn took one step forward before smiling. The first in the time they've been outside the city. He opened his mouth slowly and spoke only three words.

" I want _in._"


	4. The Last Supper

Terrador stared at the young earth dragon. Earn. Earn who had avoided contact ever since they settled in the cheetahs village. With the night air close behind Earn, Terrador Slowly beckoned to a pedestal next to the large table in the middle of the tent. Earn's smile vanished as he sat on it while keeping his digging eyes on the guardians.

" Now Ear-" Terrador started but was cut of by arm holding up a paw and growling a little.

" I know what you're about to say but let me tell you. It. Will. Not. Work." Said Earn forcefully. Terrador sighed but kept his eyes on the green dragon. " I want _in._ If you are going to take action against the dragons responsible for Star then I will join the dragons going. And I will. Make those shadow dragons pay." Earn said. Hate in his voice and anger.

" There isn't any possible way of getting around you is there." Terrador stated defeated.

" Correct." Said Earn simply.

" In that case you will need to be ready. If you are willing to go then you can start training with Winfil. You leave tomorrow evening so I advise you get some rest." Terrador then turned to leave but stopped. He turned back to Earn and eyed him suspiciously. " You have to tell me now that if you go. You will _not_ let you're feelings for revenge get in the way."

" Oh no not revenge Terrador…Justice." And with that said, Earn left back for his tent. Cyril Stood up and walked over to Terrador with a heavy head.

" I don't want him going into battle for revenge. It will only cloud his judgment and make him decide on choices he would normally not." Cyril said worriedly. Outside Earn walked in silence away from the tent. He found himself walking towards the shore line were the cremations were sent on the boats. With the moon shining brightly and giving a glow to the land and lake. Earn sat on his haunches. He let his eyes fall onto the end of the valley were the lake curved of to the right. A single tear started to treacle down his cheek. Wiping it away with a paw and sniffing a little, Earn suddenly started to feel rage. An anger that was building up inside him that he could not control. The feeling of utter devastation coming back as well.

" I will avenge you." Earn whispered. His voice was carried over the lake and out over the lands following the wind. " I will bring you back to this life. Even if I die trying. you. Will. Return…My love." And with that Earn sat motionless for nearly half the night before falling asleep on the shore line.

" What do you mean you can't find them." Said an infuriated yellow dragoness. She had a white underbelly as well as horns. Her eyes glowed vibrant read as she yelled at the small wyvern standing across from her. This dragoness was Verena. " I give you one simple task to complete, and yet you fail me."

" I'm sorry my liege…It…It wont happen again. I promise you that" The small wyvern said in only a whisper from the fear that had gripped him. His voice echoed around the main halls of the dragon temple. Verena frowned darkly at him before she rose of her throne and started to walk around him.

" It seams I am at a conflict. It appears that you're words of promise." She sighed a little as she came to the side of the wyvern. " Are true." Then quick as lightening, the dragoness stabbed her tail blade through the wyvern as it screamed in agony. " You have failed me for the last time you insignificant creature." Verena then twisted the blade causing more pain before finally throwing the wyvern through the entrance doors of the hall. The two shadow dragons on the other side looked with hidden shock at the dead wyvern lying in-front of them. " SHADOW'S!" She yelled enraged. Both shadows disappeared and reappeared directly in-front of her.

" Yes mistress." They said in there rumble of a voice simultaneously.

" Get that dead weight out of my temple and through it into the river or something. Send Corniss and Darksis in." She ordered. The shadow's both bowed and disappeared. Verena put a paw up and grabbed the temple on her face trying to calm down. " god these wyvern. The idiots they are." She cussed to herself. The hall that had been made by knocking down several walls in order to accumulate the sheer mass of it was nearly out of the blue. The windows that were parallel on each floor were just joined together to form long thin openings. There were seven of them all around the room. Verena let her eyes travel to the candles that danced around in there wax towers. She seemed to be thinking about something far in the back of her mind until a knocking at the door came." Enter." She said simply. The doors opened to reveal a larger and more muscular yet sleek and agile wyvern enter them. This wyvern had neon blue eyes and was none other than Corniss. The leader of the wyvern army that was under the control of Verena. Aside him was a different dragon all together. This dragon was black as night and had dark energy floating of him and his brightly shining completely white eyes gave away no emotion. This dragon was the high shadow dragon Darksis and had full control over all the shadow dragons.

" My liege." They both asked simultaneously and bowed. This seamed to put a smile on Verena's face and she got of the throne once again and came to the two.

" I need you to do something for me." She said in a sweet voice.

" Yes my liege." Corniss replied

" Such as." Darksis asked looking eyes with the yellow dragoness. Verena reared her head to her full height looking slightly down at them.

" It has come to my attention that now one has volunteered to retrieve my artefacts. Even though my offer has been out for over two days. I therefore not a happy dragon." She finished growling. She then jabbed a talon at the two. " So instead of an offer, I want you both to pick some worthy wyvern, shadow's to go. But pick well." She then turned and sat back on her throne and slung an arm over the back of the seat with a leg hanging over the arm casually.

" It will be done. Anything else Verena." Darksis asked. Verena was paying attention to the cylinder of blood she had while she waved a paw dismissively.

" No, that will be all. No be gone." She said firmly. The two turned and headed for the door but Verena suddenly thought of something. " Hold on. You need to know that I want to send the dragons or wyvern you pick within the next day so please, do make haste on picking." She asked. Darksis and Corniss then left the throne room. As soon as they had left Darksis rounded on Corniss with a sneer on his face.

" You will pick you're wyvern tonight and have them read-"

" Hey. You're not telling me what to do got it." He snapped back with a stern look.

" You will do as you're told because if you don't then I will see to it you're relieved of duty … permanently." Darksis said coolly before turning away and walking of down the corridor. Corniss was left standing watching him leave when two other wyvern approached him.

" My lord, what should we do." One of them asked.

" Nothing. I will make my decisions on who is going but for now … don't trust any of the shadow's. I have a feeling their up to something." Corniss said angrily. The other two wyvern nodded before leaving back to there posts and Corniss left to ponder on who to choose. On his way back he passed two hooded figures walking past him. Corniss had seen these figures before and thought nothing of it. The two figures walked past the leader wyvern and into the main throne room were Verena was sitting lazily. Her eyes snapped to the figures when one of them brought there hoods down to reveal herself as Fillasia.

" I trust you have news." Verena asked sharply. The blue dragoness shrugged.

" We found out that the dragons our no threat to us just now and we also found out that Cynder is there with them and my girl here thinks she will be the one to strike from the inside."

" Oh and why is that." Verena asked sceptically letting her eyes drift to the other dragon who brought its hood down to reveal its pink face.

" Because Cynder is still evil." she replied. " And I know-"

" Sorry but before you carry on. Could you tell me you're name sweetheart." Verena asked holding a paw up to silence her.

" Its Ember."

The rain pelted the outside of the tent as the wind tried to rip it out of the hooks it was on the next morning.. Spyro and Cynder were huddled up together keeping each other warm as the freezing cold air surrounded them and indeed the rest of the village. Spyro was slowly but surly waking up from his long slumber. He took no notice of the terrible weather outside for several minutes while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It wasn't until he groggily walked outside and was completely soaked form horn to talon.

" Gah." Spyro yelped as he jumped back in the tent falling on Cynder. Waking her up in the process. Cynder snapped her eyes open and looked about until she saw Spyro laying on top of her tail.

" You've just made my morning." Cynder blurted while trying to hold laughter in. Spyro stood up and the water on his paws mad him slip and fall face first onto the ground. This made Cynder burst out laughing and caused Spyro to blush with embarrassment.

" Could have been worse." The purple dragon mumbled to himself while getting off the ground.

" It really couldn't get any worse than that Spy."

" Oh really." Spyro retorted.

" Yes. But enough of this." She giggled a little before kissing the purple dragon on the cheek and looking into his eyes. " Spyro."

" Hmm."

" Can I ask you something."

" Sure. Anything." Spyro said instinctively putting a wing around her.

" Do you think that was really Ember out there. The dragoness Flame saw." Said Cynder. Spyro staid quite for a moment. Obviously trying to find words.

" I have no idea. But regardless if she is or not, we Stick by Flames decisions on what he wants to do." He said firmly.

" Sounds good to me. But I wonder if it was…anyway we best be getting breakfast." Cynder chirped and took some steps outside into the rain. Immediately she was drenched and dripping wet.

" karma." Spyro said smugly from behind the black dragoness.

" Shut up." Cynder said letting out a low chuckle. Spyro nodded sarcastically but put a wing over her and started to lead her for the village hall were food wood be served.

" Come on Cynder." Flame moaned a little over half an hour later in the hall. The hall itself was a large room filled with candles that scattered the walls and tables. They were all alit due to the darkness from the heavy overcast and rain. Windows were all along both sides of the walls and had large indigo curtains draped on either side of them. Like the great hall of Warfang, there was a raised area at the far end which had not one but two long tables that were angled slightly in on each other. And finally at one side was a gargantuan snake of a table that had plates upon plates of food stacked all along it. Coupled with the abundance of beverages, the table looked to be at its fullest.

" No." Cynder said firmly while giving Flame a glare. Winfil and Ornis chuckled mildly at this also earning them a glare.

" Just let me tell Spyro."

" Tell me what." Came the voice of the purple dragon. Cynder and Flame both snapped their heads at Spyro walking towards them with breakfast he had gotten for them all.

" _Well_…Cynder said she wou-"

" Thank-you-for-the-food…once you got back." Cynder said hurriedly while clamping her paws and Flames mouth. A small groan coming from them. Spyro shrugged and put the food on the table. " Not. A. Word." Cynder hissed through an icy glare before realizing his jaws. Flame grinned devilishly at her before grabbing some wheat and milk.

" so this is our last day before we leave then guys." Ornis stated before giving a small sigh.

" Why the sigh." Asked Flame.

" Just not going to enjoy sleeping in an open forest where we can be attacked at any moment."

" Listen. It should be fine. I mean we can handle ourselves." Winfil started. " they two can defiantly handle themselves." Winfil said pointing a talon towards Spyro and Cynder who smiled back

" You saying 'Can handle ourselves' really reminds me of this time in my old city." Flame started. " I was walking down the walls with some friends until I bumped into a guard. Naturally he got annoyed and started to come towards me… and then I just CHUNDERED… EVERWHERE… we'd been on the lash the night before, me and the guys. Bit of the supplies yah, I was like…whoop, BANTER, Whoop… Best night of my life, best night of my life. But enough about me and yeah I agree with him." Flame laughed more while the other dragons looked at him having no clue what he was on about.

" You're just having one of your _proper_ rants aren't you Flame. And how does 'can handle ourselves' remind you of that" Ornis asked patting him on the head like a pet. Flame narrowed his eyes at the white dragon Making him laugh.

" C'mon guys we should see Cyril before we start doing stuff today." Spyro announced once he had finished his breakfast.

" If we must." Flame said rolling his eyes. All five of the dragons stood up and left the hall which was now empty. All of them were just about to leave when.

CRACK.

Spyro heard the noise coming from behind him and span round scanning each corner to find nothing.

" What was that." He murmured to himself.

" What's wrong." Cynder asked turning to stare back into the hall alongside him. Spyro shook his head quickly looking at the black dragoness.

" It's nothing. C'mon…lets go." the purple dragon said then turned to catch up to the others who were now entering Cyril's tent. Cyril's tent was a large blue triangular shape and had the symbol for ice drawn onto the side of it. Inside the ice guardian was looking over scrolls.

" Cyril." Cynder yelled from outside gaining the blue dragons attention. He smiled as he saw all of them standing there. He new this would be the best time and possibly the only time to tell them about Earn.

" Young dragons. A pleasant surprise, Come in come in." Cyril said while beckoning them into the free part of the tent. Spyro and Cynder sat next to the small table that was at the far end of the tent while Ornis, Flame and Winfil sat next to the door. Spyro gave a small clearing of his throat before addressing the ice guardian.

" Cyril, we know that you've told us everything you know but," He gave a quick glance to the others before looking back at him. " Some of us think you're keeping information from us." Spyro then tried to see a flinch or different expression in the blue dragons face but saw nothing.

" I have held nothing from you young dragons. Why would I." Cyril then thought about Earn and gave a sigh. " I do, however, have some news for you all. Now keep an open mind when I say this but …"

" Cyril." Flame said inquisitively.

" OK. Well, … I'll just say it. Earn's going to be coming." Cyril said the last part in a hurry.

" What!" Cynder exclaimed at this news. " You Can't be serious Cyril. You know how he _feels _and I'm pretty sure that they will get in the way." Cynder said in a matter-of-fact tone. She new she was right but Cyril just shook his head.

" There is no way to stop him. He's firmly on the track of revenge for the death of Star but, he calls it justice. We think that it will be good for him to get out and take his sadness and anger out on those who produced it. So what I'm asking of you all is, will you allow him to join you." Cyril said looking at each one of them individually. Spyro thought for a moment, taking into consideration Cynder's words as well as Cyril's. He new it would greatly increase their chances of succeeding in all of the artifacts if there was more of them but he also new that Earn would be doing more out of revenge, in spite of saying otherwise.

" We will allow him to join us." Spyro said, now in command missionary mode. " But if dares to compromise the mission at hand out of revenge then he will be off the team before Cynder could say _I told you so_-"

" Thank you." Cyril said bowing his head a little. Spyro let out a chortle.

" You don't bow to me, it is I who should bow to you."

" It just seems right just now Spyro."

" Well we'll have to change some battle strategies to fit Earn in around us. Flame!" He shouted the last part to grab the red dragons immediate attention. " go to Earns tent and bring him here. If he's going to be coming then he needs to hear what's going to be happening."

" Right away boss." Flame said as he mock saluted him.

" And don't call me that." Spyro snapped. Flame laughed and flew out the tent and over the village. Spyro then turned to Cyril who was watching the place where Flame had flew of. " Cyril." The purple dragon called. Cyril mumbled something to quite for them to hear but turned to Spyro.

" Spyro." He said, more of a question as to why he had called him.

" I need you to summon the other guardians. They need to hear our plans as well regardless if its us going."

" Then perhaps you all should head over to the guardians tent. I'll retrieve Terrador and Volteer and bring them their. This tent isn't large enough to fit all of us, you understand."

" Of coarse." Spyro said nodding his head. " Well when you come back with the others, stop by here to make sure Flame comes with Earn too where we're going." The purple dragon said thoughtfully before he and the others took to the sky over to the guardians tent.

" between you and me" Cynder started once they were in the air. " D'you think Earn will be a problem." Spyro looked straight forward for a moment thinking it over.

" I honestly can't say this early on. All I can hope for is that he doesn't do anything reckless and put himself in danger due to his feelings." Said Spyro with an anguished face. Cynder nodded and didn't continue on the matter. Within the minute they were landing outside the large mud greed guardians tent and heading inside; Flame being his usual self, large mouth but no thought. Winfil was going over plans with Spyro and Cynder while Ornis simply sat and listened.

" So you're saying that the best vantage point is if me, Earn and Cynder go by ground." Winfil asked reluctantly. Spyro gave one sharp nod at him.

" Yes-with you and Earn on the ground. Earth being you're element I'm sure it would suit you more. And as for Cynder, Well she'll be in the shadows and will phase through the walls were the shadows are at there most."

" I still don't see why we need to take it by stealthily stealing it as-a-pose to just asking for it." Ornis retorted. Winfil gave him a skeptical look, as if he was mentally saying did-you-just-say-that. Ornis merely shrugged his shoulders. " I mean, they must know that-seeing as you're the purple dragon, we mean good don't we so..." Ornis continued. Winfil rolled his eyes turning to Spyro who pressed his lips together.

" I don't think they would give us-"

" You don't know that Spyro." Cynder interjected giving him thoughtful look. Ornis saw his moment of opportunity and jumped at the chance.

" I think you should listen to me and Cynder. It'll make it allot easier if we just walk in and explain the situation and then they hand over the … the… What was the artefact in Warbrin again." Asked Ornis. Spyro chuckled a little and looked to Cynder for help who only shook her head slowly.

" Its a blue diamond used in the original fight against Malefor. Before Spyro ever stepped in that is." Winfil suddenly blurted out. Ornis turned and stared at him with a disbelieve face. Winfil saw this and laughed as did the others.

" And what's so funny." He asked angrily.

" Its simply you forgetting what the mole said in the letters. He gave us the description of all the artifacts and the one in Warbrin is a blue diamond." Spyro said calming himself.

" I don't see what's funny when we're just about to leave on a two day trip to that city." Cynder said a little glumly.

" Sorry Cynder." Spyro said. " You can't burn me for trying to lighten everyone's spirits before we go."

" Yeah I guess so." Cynder said giving a small smile.

" Where D'you reckon Flame is with Earn then." Spyro asked as an out question to everyone. Ornis and Cynder shrugged.

" I have the feeling Flame is having a hard time getting Earn here." Winfil stated looking out the door.

" Oh-and why is that." Spyro said raising his eyes a little. Winfil shook his head while still looking outside.

" Just think that, Earn will probably not want-"

" Hey guys." Came a voice. Winfil took a couple of steps to the edge of the door and peered out to see Cyril and the other guardians followed by Flame and Earn. A smile tugged at the corners of Spyro's mouth as he turned to the green dragon.

" You where saying." Said Spyro, the smile almost audible in his voice.

" Shut up." Winfil said in a friendly voice before mock punching him in the arm.

" So it appears you're getting ready to go then young dragons." Terrador said walking into the tent. Cyril followed as well with Volteer. Spyro then saw Flame coming with Earn.

" Hey Spyro." Flame said then carried on past him. Earn however stood at the door looking at the purple dragon. Spyro stared as well but new what he was waiting for.

" C'mon. You're going as well so you need to here this." Spyro said friendly to Earn who smiled a little.

" Thank you." He said while sitting on his haunches next to Winfil.

" You sure you want to do this. No ones asking you too." Spyro asked carefully. Earn nodded his head and a frown appeared on him.

" I'll be doing nothing here and I want to be fighting against the dragons that killed Star."

" You wont compromise us for reve-"

" No. Nothing like that will happen, I swear it." Earn said forcefully while looking into the amethyst eyes of Spyro. The purple dragon nodded then took point at the table and unfurled a map onto it. This map had all the dragon realms plotted on it; every city to village, every forest to desert. Every sea to lake. Spyro dipped a talon into a cup of red liquid which he had acquired from a mole and put a dot onto the map.

" So we're here." He said making a large circle in the Avalar valley. " And we are going here."-he then made another circle on the large city just south of the north freezer- " Which is just shy of Dante's freezer. We will be going along a strategic path so as to not get noticed. Firstly we'll start by flying over the Avalar forest to the head of the valley. From there we'll fly over the western ridge for a certain amount of time-I don't know how long. After that we'll make camp for the night there." He made a small dot on the map which was a third of the way to Warbrin.

" And this will be made safe how." Questioned Volteer. Spyro smiled turning to Cynder.

" Me and Spyro both control the shadow element yes." She got approving nods from the rest of the dragons. " Well we will be placing shadow walls all around wherever we make camp." She finished with a smile. When suddenly.

CRACK.

Another cracking, snapping sound Spyro heard not long ago was coming through the tent.

" Must be the wind." Cyril said not concerned. Spyro however turned his whole body to look outside but saw nothing. Fair enough the wind was blowing hard but the noise sounded allot more defined and larger than what the wind could possibly do. Spyro thought he would look into it later but turned back to the others who were examining the map.

" What if we make camp here instead of there." Earn suddenly said with a vote of confidence in his voice. Spyro followed his talon and saw a small river next to a cliff face. " It would make sense. The cliff for protection and the river for water. There's probably allot of fish in there as well."

" Yes it…its actually better than the other position I chose. Good job man." Said Spyro giving Earn an approving smile. Secretly Spyro was thanking the ancestors that Earn wasn't just going to be the silent luggage of a dragon but was actually going to help in the matter.

" Well then since we have the plans of how you're getting there. How about getting back." Volteer asked.

" Yes how are we getting back." Cynder agreed. Spyro beckoned them all to look at the map.

" Well we came this way" - He pointed to the two dots which marked were they would be staying- " So to avoid getting discovered then we will come back that way. Also it will be allot easier coming back due to the currents in the air." Said Spyro. The guardians all nodded as did the other dragons.

" Well!" Cyril said clapping his paws together. " Since lunch will be you're last meal before you leave then I suggest we make it a good one."

" And what are you going to do exactly." Ornis asked curious. Cyril smiled.

" Oh I dunno." Cyril said sarcastically. " Maybe just give you a treat or something."

" If you say so then." Ornis replied getting a small smile out of the ice guardian. Cyril then left closely followed by Terrador.

" But until then." Flame started at Spyro. " I want that match you promised me ages ago. We use nothing but fire and skill." Flame said starting to bounce on the spot. Spyro chuckled a little.

" Flame, if anything will happen-its most likely going to be you hitting the wall after me throwing you-"

" Oh-yeah. Prove it."

" Flame, I think we should be conserving our energy and not using it for a bit of friendly sparring."

" Aw C'mon Spyro … Fine but after this is all done I want that match-I know I'll probably get my red butt kicked but its worth a shot." Flame said the middle part quickly after seeing Cynder's icy gaze. Spyro looked at Flame shrinking back then followed his gaze to Cynder's glare and laughed.

" hush you." Cynder said while playfully hitting him.

" Well I must say before I go." Volteer said grabbing everyone's attention. " That it is of the utmost importance that you beat the shadow dragons there and back. If you fall behind them then it will be doubly as hard to catch up, let alone get back in-front."

" Don't worry Volteer." Winfil said waving a dismissive paw.

" Yeah don't get worked up. We'll be fine." Spyro agreed. Volteer nodded and left but stopped before setting foot out the tent.

" I do believe I was meant to take you to the main hall for our last meal together young dragons." Volteer turned his head which had a soft smile on it.

" Lets go then." Spyro said more to everyone than to Volteer. The electricity guardian lead them out the tent and through the thick mass of tents until they reached the main hall. The outside had some candles along the railings and when Volteer opened the door there was hardly any tables inside. There were only four. One of which had the three guardians on and the other having the heads of the village on. The third table had six seats which were meant for each of them. The fourth table was full of food which was not served normally. Lean dear and rabbit. There was water along with some freshly squeezed fruit juice. Spyro smiled and turned to Cynder who leant her head against the purple dragons shoulder.

" I love you."

" oh but I love you more."

" We'll see." With that she kissed Spyro softly. Flame cleared his throat from behind and Spyro gave him a warning glance but Flame didn't flinch.

" I think they're waiting." He whispered. Spyro and Cynder snapped there heads too the front and blushed when all eyes were on them. All six of the dragons walked over and took their respective seats amongst each other. Terrador then stood up and walked forward to address the hall. He looked over everyone before speaking.

" We're here today to give a send off to six very special dragons. They are about to put their lives on the line to save the cities and indeed the realms, I am talking of coarse of the dragons sat here today. Spyro, Cynder, Flame, Winfil, Ornis and Earn. All of you have demonstrated a high level of bravery by talking this challenge on. It is not for the faint hear-ted so I commend you. This will be you're last time with us before you head out and well."-He looked at everybody else- " We thought you all deserved at least one good meal and a good time before you left." And with that. The moles that had cooked the food now put plates in-front of each dragon and cheetah. They served the Spyro, Cynder and Flame along with the others first before moving onto the cheetahs and guardians

" Looks good." Flame whispered to Ornis who nodded. Earn turned his head to see Spyro and Cynder leaning against each other. He felt the whole make itself known again deep within his chest but hid it well.

" And without further a due. May this meal be in the name of theses six dragons." Terrador said.

" Couldn't have gone better." Spyro said to Cynder twenty minutes later while sitting under the setting sun. Cynder had her head against Spyro as he draped a wing over her.

" Yeah it was a good dinner. Hope we can have another one when we get back." Cynder replied.

" I'm sure we will, after all we'll have one of the artifacts with us."

" Yeah," Cynder said before sighing.

" What is it."

" I'm just wondering if we'll get the artifact easil-"

" Shh." Spyro said putting a paw over Cynder's mouth. " We'll get it and we'll all be fine."

" I hope so." Cynder sighed and hung her head a little. Spyro turned to her and looked into her eyes. He always lost himself when looking in her shining emerald eyes. As if they were a pool of never ending happiness for him.

" There's no need to hope…we _will_." Spyro said before connecting his lips with hers in a long and heart filled kiss. They kissed each other for what seamed like an eternity, neither of them wanting the pull back. Cynder always loved to be close to Spyro and even more so kissing him as did Spyro to her.

" Thought id find you two lovebirds over here." Winfil said signaling the end of their alone time. Spyro pulled back a little reluctantly but he had to.

" What is it Winfil." he asked a little annoyed.

" Oh, its just to tell you that we're leaving now."

" We'll be there in a sec." Spyro said. Winfil nodded and left leaving the two of them alone again.

" Spyro." Cynder asked.

" Hmm."

" I love you."

" I love you too." Spyro said pulling her into a cuddle. They cuddled each other for a whole two minutes before Cynder remembered Winfil.

" We should go then." she said pulling back and rising to her feet. Spyro followed suit and they rounded a corner to reveal the others sitting next to the guardians next to the gate.

" Bout time you guys." Flame piped up. Cynder rolled her eyes at him. Spyro and Cynder walked up to the gate where the others were. Spyro kept his eyes on the gate.

" We're really going now aren't we. The peace we thought we brought has ended already."

" Pah, yeah maybe so but we can no doubt bring it round again." Ornis said. Patting him on the shoulder gaining a smile. Terrador walked to the gates and the cheetahs on either side opened them showing the deep forest on the other side.

" Well then. This is where I say goodbye young dragons."

" Yup. But only for a while." Flame said before casually walking out the gate showing only a little sign of nervousness.

" Goodbye then Terrador, Cyril, Volteer." Winfil said as did Ornis and they both walked through the gates. Earn nodded to them all before walking through as well without a word. Volteer eyes him but left it.

" Bye then guys." Spyro said in false bravery when really he was nervous as well.

" Spyro." Cyril said catching his eyes before he left. Cyril walked towards him and brought his head down to the purple dragons level. He sighed before looking into his eyes. " Ignitus would be proud." Was all he said. Cyril put a paw on Spyro's shoulder and Spyro nodded slowly.

" C'mon then." Cynder said putting a paw onto Spyro's. Spyro nodded and they both walked through the gates looking at either side as they went through. On the other side the others were sitting waiting.

" We fly then." Spyro said and the other murmured in agreement. " Once in the air we don't stop until the first rest point or if someone gets hurt. No one will be left behind." Spyro gave one look back at the guardians before turning to the woods.

" Off we go then." Flame said enthusiastically before all the dragon opened there wings and shot up into the sky and into the setting sun. Terrador watched as did the others as the small shapes disappeared into the sun.

" May the ancestors watch over you. Please let them be fast." The green dragon said before turning and walking back into the village. The cheetahs closed the gates as the sun set. The six dragons flew high not saying a word and having worry on there face. It will be two days until they see the village again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So guys, how am doing then so far. Good - Bad? **

**Reviews would be nice so I can see how I'm doing :)**


	5. Camp One

Spyro and the others flew over trees, rivers and small settlements – The wind hitting every part of their body's and keeping them in the air. They had left an hour ago from the Avalar cheetah village which housed the dragons for now, just as the sun was setting. No one spoke for the first leg of the journey, for there was nothing to say. They flew in a loose triangle formation with Spyro taking the spear point and Earn with Ornis taking the ends. Flame was at his wits end with the silence on all of them. As per usual, he was the dragon to brake the silence.

" So how far have we to go Spyro." He asked raising his voice over the passing wind. Spyro looked out the corner of his eye at Flame and scanned the horizon until in the distance he could see a cliff face which was their first point of camp. He pointed a talon towards it.

" Its at the base of that cliff." He yelled back. Flame nodded and squinted his eyes at the cliff. It was still a good half hour's flight away but regardless of that-they had found the first point.

" Heh-hey we're nearly there." Ornis yelled while punching the air. Spyro smiled to himself. He new that if their spirits were up then the journey would go well. But if they weren't then it wouldn't be good. The dragons all flew for another stint of silence before finally coming to the cliff base. It stood massive in the open air and was a shield from the bitingly cold wind. The night had come in now and the stars-as well as the moon-were the only things giving a small glow to the land.

" I'll go get some fire wood guys. Just be a second." Said Flame after they had landed.

" Sure thing. I'll go get us some food from the river so we don't starve." Ornis chuckled as he left.

" Should we get a boundary set up Spy." Cynder asked the purple dragon. Spyro looked about and nodded.

" We only have to make an arch around us. That cliff"-He pointed to the cliff face- " Will give us protection from that angle so there's no need to do it there."

" K-then. I'll start from the left you start from the right-"

" Um what are you guys doing." Winfil asked curiously. Cynder shook her head.

" You're doing an 'Ornis'. Forgetting stuff easily...We're making a shadow wall around ourselves so nothing can get us." Cynder laughing slightly. Winfil frowned at the Ornis comment but nodded none the less. It didn't take long for Spyro and Cynder to erect the wall and not long after. They were all sitting in-front of the camp fire talking.

" So then. Since there's nothing else to do...Lets play truth." Said Flame smiling. Everybody agreed albeit not with as much enthusiasm and Flame decided to start. " OK so it goes like this. I will ask anybody a question and the have to give the truth in the answer, no matter what. I'll ask then it'll move to Winfil then all the way around until it reaches me." Flame continued while making a clockwise motion with his paw.

" On you go then Flame." Ornis said taunting him.

" Just you wait...Right then, who to ask. How about you Spyro." Flame said pointing a talon at the purple dragon. Spyro froze and became nervous.

" uh, OK then. Fire away."

" Hmm. Have you and Cynder ever done it." Flame asked grinning devilishly.

" OK, that's a bit over the bar there." Cynder cut in.

" Answer the question Spyro." Flame pressed, enjoying the frowns and glares he was getting from Cynder. Spyro gave a nervous look at Cynder who shook her head.

" I don't think-"

" You have to answer. You made the decision to play the game." Flame said daring him to object. Spyro huffed and nodded.

" No." He said sheepishly.

" No!" Ornis said loudly. " Guy's you've practically been dating for nearly a quarter of a year now. Surly you've both gotten curios and wanted to try stuff."

" Right that's enough!" Cynder yelled. " FLAME! Since i'm next in line. Have you ever kissed a dragoness before." She asked smiling. She new he hadn't kissed anyone so she would have her revenge. Flame's hesitation only gave him away.

" … He's never kissed anyone!" Roared Winfil pointing a talon at him before laughing. Flame began to become very red on top of his already red scales and growled at Winfil.

" So what if I haven't...I want to wait for, the right dragoness." He said, stammering over the second part of the sentence. Spyro smiled at Flame.

" Its alright. I didn't even look at a dragoness until Cynder here." He said giving her a small peck on the cheek making her blush. While all this was going on, Earn, Was sitting on his own of to one corner of the camp. He wasn't crying or even in pain. He was merely plotting how he could hurt the ones that took Star the most before he killed them. He had made himself a makeshift shelter out of the earth around him. Spyro gave a quick glance to him then back at the group.

" Should we invite him over here."

" It might do more worse than good. Y'know, him seeing us all happy and laughing while he silently hurts inside." Said Ornis. Spyro nodded slowly but Flame turned and locked his eyes on the green dragon.

" Why don't you go over and speak to him. You, After all are the mighty purple dragon. It will do him some good." Flame said keeping his eyes on Earn. Spyro turned to Cynder who smiled softly and beckoned to Earn.

" Go on. It'll probably help." She said.

" Alright." Said Spyro getting up and walking of. Just outside the circle he found him under the earth shelter. Spyro sighed a little getting Earns attention.

" May I?" He pointed to the shelter. Earn nodded once without a word. Spyro then moved his paws and the shelter widened until there was enough space for him under it. He then lay next to Earn and watched the others who were glancing at them every now and again.

" So what is it Spyro." Earn said emotionless. " Come to ask me to join in and be happy. Well news fl-"

" I'm here to ask no such thing." Spyro said raising a paw. " I'm here to talk to you about … Losing a loved one." Once Spyro said it, Earns eyes twitched a little and he moved his head so he could look at Spyro.

" and what would you know of it." Earn said flatly. Spyro had to take a deep breath. He had never openly talked about Ignitus before with anyone except for Cynder. Earn noticed Spyro's hesitance and turned his head fully, now curious.

" Well." Spyro started solemnly. " You have heard of the old fire guardian. Well his name was Ignitus and, he was like a father to me. He was the one who trained me, not only in fire, but in combat. He was the one who cared for me when I was only just learning my true destiny." Spyro shook a little but quickly composed himself. " I grew to love him as a father. He was also the most gracious of the guardians. He forgave Cynder in a flick of a talon without hesitation. But it was his kindness that led to his fall." Spyro stopped for a moment. Earn, not sure if he had stopped completely wondered if he dared to ask what happened. His curiosity got the better of him though.

" What happened?"

" He died." Spyro said plainly. " But it was how he died that makes it all the more worse. He died while taking us through the ring of fire. Y'know the one that the destroyer makes." the purple dragon said. Earn's eyes widened at the prospect of them trying to get through it.

" But nothing can get through that. Couldn't you have just flown over it?"

" If we could have … do you think that I would have aloud him to take us straight through." Spyro growled getting a little angry but he took some deep breaths again. " No, We couldn't have flown over because the ring of fire reaches up into space. There would be no way we could fly in that vacuum. No, he died getting us through that ring." And with that Spyro stopped. Earn lay there watching the purple dragon. He new that it must have effected him allot if whenever he spoke about it, it nearly brought him to tears.

" I understand Spyro." Earn said. Spyro huffed.

" I was meant to be coming over here to tell you that I have also lost someone close to me and to show you that you're not alone basically." Spyro said smiling a little at Earn who was now sitting up and looking at the group. Spyro rose and closed the extra space from the earth shelter. " Just come over when you're ready." He said and left, Earn watching him leave.

" How'd it go." Flame asked as soon as Spyro was back in the circle. Spyro snorted a little

" It went alright. What did you expect." Spyro said. Flame laughed a little and turned to Ornis.

" That'll be five gold peace's when we get back to Warfang friend." The red dragon said sniggering away. Ornis growled at him.

" Fine then. But you still have to pay you're part." He snapped at Flame. At that moment Flame's face became a pinkish colour. Spyro looked at both of them narrowing his eyes.

" What were they doing?" Spyro asked. Both Flame and Ornis clamped their mouths shut. Spyro only beckoned them to continue. It was Flame though who spoke first.

" We … Were … Y'know what. It doesn't matter now. Lets just forget about it." Flame said quickly. Spyro rolled his eyes but didn't peruse the matter any further. All of them then proceeded to go over the plan again when they reached Warbrin. They were not to show any sign of hesitation or nervousness. That would give the dragons of the city a reason to think they were on the other side. Spyro growled at the thought of someone mistaking him for being evil.

" So we just walk in their and ask for the diamond. Simple as that." Flame said. Ornis shook his head while Winfil huffed.

" We can't just walk in and ask for it. We need to ask carefully in a way. We need to prove to them we're from Warfang and we mean good." Winfil said. Flame snorted at him.

" Wait a minute. We have Spyro with us so shouldn't they just be like ' oh there's the purple dragon, lets help him.'" Cynder said trying to imitate an older dragon but failing terribly. Spyro laughed a little at her and she frowned a little. This made Spyro all the more happier. He leaned in to her and gave her a small kiss.

" You know how cute you are when you're annoyed." He said looking into her eyes. Cynder went a bit red and turned away.

" Yeah. I know."

" HEY! We dragons over here want to make sure are plan is going to work. Not watch a theatre play of the dragons that loved." Flame shouted at them. Cynder narrowed her eyes at him which then turned into a full glare.

" At least he has-"

" Anyway." Spyro said holding a paw onto Cynder's mouth. " We best be getting sleep now. If my eyesight is correct, then the stars above us just now makes it nearly midnight. We have another big day of flying ahead of us tomorrow. So I suggest you all get a good bit of sleep." Spyro said to them all. He then stamped his back paw into the ground and made an earth shelter for him and Cynder. Cynder smiled and pecked him on the cheek.

" Let's go then my big purple dragon." She said softly. Spyro only grinned and walked in with her. Flame and the others were watching Spyro and Cynder cuddle under the shelter with a look of confusion.

" They must be trying not to think about what we all have to do." Winfil said getting a murmur of agreement from them all. " Well then. Now for my bed." Winfil continued and done the same as Spyro had and a large cave like peace of earth erupted from the ground. This one was the largest of the two Spyro and Earn had made.

" You need all that space just for yourself." Ornis asked sceptically. Winfil chuckled to himself.

" This can fit three dragons into it and more. No, this is for us three. Seeing as"-Winfil raised his voice a little looking over at Spyro.- " Someone can't be bothered to help you two to have a decent bed." Spyro turned his head to Winfil from where he lay and glowered at him, then he turned to Flame and Ornis and mouthed the words sorry and then pointed with his free paw to Cynder who had a firm grip of him and her tail thoroughly rapped around his own. Flame chortled a bit before entering the cave followed by Ornis. Winfil however, stayed out and looked at Earn. The green dragon was a little away from the five and was deep in sleep. Winfil sighed and shook his head. Before walking into the cave.

" Night everyone." Flame shouted. This only got him a few grunts and flick of the wing from Cynder in response. " Typical." Flame snorted before falling asleep. The night was uneventful. Many of the dragons were dreaming of events to come and event past. Cynder however was only just falling asleep after letting her mind wonder over what will happen between her and Spyro. It seamed to always nag at her mind when she was just about to sleep. Cynder welcomed the soothing numbness that was sleep until she was gone. She then felt the ground beneath her get cold and smooth. Like it had been polished. She snapped open her eyes to see she was not sleeping on dirt. She turned to see that Spyro was gone and so were the others. Cynder began getting frightened as she looked about and saw she wasn't in the forest. In-fact she couldn't have been in a more opposite place. The room she found herself in had stacks of books lining the walls. The only light was from the small pensive in one corner and the gargantuan egg timer in the middle of the room.

" Come here." Came a voice. Cynder snapped up into a battle position. Although she recognised the voice a little. She heard laughing coming from what must have been the voice. " You need not be afraid of me Cynder. You know that." Cynder's eyes darted around the room looking for the source of the words until she found it. Coming out from behind the timer was a large blue dragon. It wore a golden chain around its neck and there were several books floating around it. Cynder new this to be the chronicler.

" Ah. Chronic-" She was about to finish the sentence but the dragon came closer and Cynder really saw who it was. She could never forget the eyes that forgave all of her sins.

" Ig...Ignitus." She stammered. Her eyes filling with tears. Ignitus smiled warmly at her.

" It has been to long Cynder." The blue dragon said. Cynder took a few hesitant steps forward before she was sure it was him. She then slammed into Ignitus giving him an almighty hug.

" But...The, ring of fire. You d-"

" Yes Cynder. You must have many questions but for now, I have brought you here not on good terms. The world is at risk from something."

" At risk. You mean that yellow dragoness and her army of wyvern." Cynder asked. Ignitus shook his head slowly.

" They are only half the risk Cynder." Ignitus sighed loudly. " Verena is trying to resurrect Malefor to destroy the world-"

" Bring him back! Is she insane."

" Most likely, but that was only the half part." Ignitus said. A confused look crossed Cynder's face as she stared into the old fire guardians eyes.

" Who could possibly be worse than Malefor?"

" I cannot tell you. I can only show you." after Ignitus said this, the world they were in spun. It materialized into thousands of specks before swirling around. They then snapped into a new position. Cynder had covered her eyes from the blinding white light but took down her wing to see Warfang. Her jaw dropped when she really saw it. The whole city was on fire, houses were gone and the temple was nowhere to be seen. The walls were all but ripped out of there foundations and scattered across the surrounding area. The forests all around them were either dead or still burning. Lightening was thundering nearly every ten seconds and the clouds themselves were swirling around, some making tornado's.

" Ignitus, what-" Cynder asked but caught sight of a dragon. The dragon stood motionless watching the flames ensue and had a frown on his face. Cynder could also make out another dragon at his legs laying on the ground.

" You see Cynder. This is what the world has to come."

" Wait who is that." She asked pointing at the dragon standing above the other one. Ignitus didn't say anything but only watched. Cynder took a step forward. When she got a closer look at the dragon, she could see more details. His hide was as black as night and had dark energy dancing around him as well as purple electricity. There was a slight glow coming from his face and when Cynder turned to see what it was, it was his eyes. They were completely white and glowing. She gasped then when she realized who it was. The golden wings that were now black. The golden chest plates that were now black. It was Spyro standing in-front of her. Her eyes then followed his white ones to the dragon next to him. She nearly fainted from what she saw. There she lay, motionless and limp on the ground. She could see clearly, two large spears sticking out of her side and blood everywhere. Cynder had to turn around from the gruesome sight.

" Make it stop."Cynder almost whimpered to Ignitus. Almost as soon as she said it, she felt the cold slabbing of the the chroniclers room.

" Cynder-" Ignitus started but was cut of by the black dragoness.

" No! I wont believe it. How could Spyro turn evil. After all he's fought to protect." She nearly yelled. Ignitus hung his head

" It happens after you return from you're last trip to retrieve the last artefact. There is a battle at Warfang which involves everyone. But the events that occur, only start that which has already started. You fight Verena yourself and before Spyro can get there to help you, five wyvern attack you and...they kill you. This then sets of Spyro's true dark form. Oryps returns and takes full control. I don't think you realize that, Oryps feels the same for you as Spyro does. He blamed everyone there for not saving you and, he destroys everyone. He doesn't even give a second glance to all the dragons that were his friends when he kills them. The once enemy's, Verena and the guardians, had to work together to try and stop him. But they were nothing under Oryps' power. The guardians and Verena's two leaders, Darksis and Corniss were crushed in an instant. Oryps then laid waste to the world after that. Killing everything." Ignitus finished. Cynder had tears streaming from her eyes. The dragon that she loved would be the destroyer of the world. The one that she would do anything for. Cynder bit back a sob and looked at Ignitus.

" But I thought Spyro learned to control his dark powers." She asked.

" Spyro has done the opposite Cynder. He let it embrace him and therefore became a part of it. When you faced Oryps in Warfang, He was merely half in control and therefore only half of his power was being released. Now Oryps has full control and Its already started to find ways out of him. You will notice the effect soon."

" Is there anyway to stop it."

" There is one. But it involves you." Ignitus slowly sat on his haunches and looked at a book that approached him. " The only way for you to save him is, he needs to experience an extreme emotion while in his dark form. For example, his love for you. If you can get through to him while he's in that state then you've won. But there are two other things that must be at work for this to be successful. He needs to _want_ to control it and lastly. He needs to absorb several purple crystals-"

" But the only way to get purple crystals is if..." Cynder trailed of.

" Yes. You have break the crystal that holds Malefor. And if you break that crystal, Well you know what happens next." Ignitus looked away from Cynder. The black dragoness was now fuming with rage.

" Then how do you expect me to save him." She nearly yelled.

" that is going to have to be you're choice. If you don't break the crystal, then the world will fall to Spyro. And if you do break it, the world will fall to Malefor-"

" So either way. The world will be destroyed." Cynder said sceptically.

" Cynder." Ignitus started. " You're fate, and the worlds fate are more intertwined than you think. You hold the choices that will either save the world or cause its destruction. But you must understand that time is of the essence."

" So how will I know what to choose." Asked Cynder. Ignitus gave a small chuckle.

" That decision lies only with you. Don't worry, you will know when the time comes." The chronicler then flung one of his arms out and a large black book floated in-front of him. He sighed looking at. " As if it couldn't get any worse. You will find you're will being tested yourself young dragon."

" Wait, What do you mean." Cynder started but the world around her started to fade and turn to black. Cynder snapped open her eyes with a sudden intake of breath. It was morning and the light was pouring in but Spyro was still sound asleep at her side. His wing was still draped over her. She couldn't help but sniff a little as some tears came down her cheek. Cynder didn't know how she would choose what to do. She could save Spyro but in-term that would release Malefor. Or she could try and win him back once he was in his dark form. Even though she had already done so. She lay there letting it play on her mind for another ten minutes. She had won him over when they were training to control the dark form in Warfang so what would stop her from doing it again. Cynder then remembered Ignitus saying Oryps will have full control and her heart fell a little. It was only when she heard the movement of a dragon outside did she stop thinking. She peered out and Spotted Earn looking at the lazily drifting clouds. Cynder smiled a little at him. Earn sat watching the clouds, though he was unaware of the danger lurking close by him. In the bushes to their left something was moving. Earn didn't notice this but Cynder did. She moved out the earth shelter and walked up to the transparent shadow wall to see what was stirring beneath the green shrubs. The black dragoness didn't have to wait long. Quick as a flash, a grublin lunged out for her. Instinctively, Cynder sidestepped but the grublin smashed into the shadow wall and fell hard on the ground. Cynder laughed a little at forgetting the shadow wall she and Spyro made not twelve hours ago.

" You're not getting through." The black dragoness said sweetly. She watched the grublin. cocking her head to the side a little. It seamed to be not letting up in its effortless tries to break through the wall. Cynder shook her head and began to turn but the sight of another shrub moving caught her eye. Out from which came another grublin, Then another, and another. Soon there were grublin's coming from the whole left side and attacking the wall. Cynder new the shadow wall couldn't hold off that many.

" GRUBLINS!" She yelled to the others who were still asleep. Earn snapped up out of his sitting position and took a battle stance next to Cynder. Flame fell out of the earth shelter taking no notice.

" What's all the shouting f-"

" Flame!" Cynder snapped. " Get yourself over here. Wake the others as well – We have grublin's that are going to get through the wall." Flame stood there. As if he had just been slapped across the face by Cynder's words. Almost instantly, Flame roared making all the others jump out there sleep. Winfil and Ornis were the first out followed closely by Spyro. The purple dragon taking a stance next to Earn and Cynder while the others were gazing at the opposite side.

" Get over here you guys." Earn scolded at Ornis, Flame and Winfil.

" Um..." Winfil stammered. " I think we have more than just those grublin's there." The green dragon said pointing to the other side were just as many grublin's were relentlessly attacking the wall. Small breaks were beginning to appear on the wall itself and the grublin's seemed to find new energy when noticing this.

" Should be easy enough though." Spyro said with a flat voice.

" Don't speak to soon." Earn said sternly through clenched teeth. Spyro flinched a little at the intensity of Earns voice but it was quickly wiped from his mind when one of the grublin's finally smashed through the wall. Nearly as soon as the breach came, The whole wall collapsed letting in all the grublin's.

" Kill them all." Earn said in a low voice. He sprang for the nearest grublin slashing his claws across its face and neck killing it instantly. Earn then span round slamming his paws into the ground causing spikes to spring out of the ground into any grublin they came in contact with.

" What he said." Flame yelled before spraying a belt of fire over some of the creatures. Spyro and Cynder began fighting of grublin's along with the others. Ornis used his wind element to slam his opponents into the nearby trees either knocking them out or killing them. All six of the dragons were fighting hard. Cynder was spraying acid on grublin's then working with Ornis, combining both their wind elements to kill more of the vermin's. Earn was off from the group a little surrounded. The green dragon grinned at them all.

" You wont kill me that easily." That being said, the ground started to shake and Earn roared just as a wave of earth was sent out in every direction completely swallowing the grublin's. But even as all the dragons killed them. More seamed to take their place. Cynder kept hurling wind and shadow attacks at them but it was no use. The black dragoness span around to Spyro.

" Spyro. Use your dark powers." Cynder yelled at the purple dragon. Spyro didn't think twice when he let his scales darken to pure black and his eyes turned to stone white. The dark and purple electricity danced around him catching any grublin that went too near.

" With pleasure." Spyro said, his voice sounding lower than usual. With an almighty roar, Spyro disappeared and reappeared in-front of the main mass of grublin's. He growled and let lose a beam of convexity which enveloped all of the grublin's killing them. Spyro then turned on the other stragglers now trying to run away and roared making the ground shake. Spikes of earth shot out everywhere, Bigger than the ones Earn and Winfil were producing and sent the grublin's flying. Spyro Growled looking over the surroundings making sure there weren't any more grublin's. He smiled when he saw one struggling to reach the tree line. Spyro's smile grew wider still as he zapped to the space in front of it chuckling darkly.

" I don't think so." Spyro said lowly before letting the dark electricity floating around him zap and electrocute the grublin until its body was no more than ash. All the while having an eerie smile on his face. Cynder couldn't help but remember Ignitus's words.

" We did it." Flame yelled punching the air. Spyro relaxed a little and his scales brightened back up to their royal purple but there was no let up in his anger.

" All those grublin's couldn't form an attack on us of that magnitude. Someone must be controlling them." He said to all of the dragons in a flat tone.

Cynder walked over to him and sat on her haunches. " Who could have done this. The last person to control the grublin's like that was … _him_."

" I don't know. But it most certainly isn't him. I – we killed him. He will not return." Said Spyro forcefully.

" perhaps we should just move on and not stay here much longer." Said Flame glancing around quickly. Ornis, Winfil and Earn all nodded, though Earn had his eyes locked on the spot the last grublin came and a glare on his muzzle.

" Right then everyone. Just leave everything and leave. I don't know if there are any more grublin's that could attack us and I for one don't want to stick around to find out." Spyro said earning nods from.

" She'll have to do better than that to kill us." Earn growled.

" She?" Asked Winfil.

" Verena. Who else would want us dead?"

" You make a good point but still. She would have to have strong elements to control the grublins."

" She has an army of wyvern and not to mention the shadow dragons. She must be strong." Stated Cynder. Flame cleared his throat loudly gaining the attention of everyone.

" We were leaving?"

" Yes. Leaving" Winfil said and quickly flared his wings before pulling himself into the air. The others followed closely but Spyro was still on the ground. The purple dragon watched as the dragons rose to a hover looking back at him. Spyro promised himself there and then that he would die before letting anything happen to his friends. Or dragon kind for that matter. Before he too, took flight and the dragons flew into the slowly turning to blue, orange sky. The second camp point on their minds.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the long awaited update. School work got heavier and I lost interest in this for a period of time /:**

**Thanks for the feedback (: I'll take note.**

** A little smaller than other chapters but it felt the right length. **

**As always, hope you enjoy it.**


	6. Warbrin

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far (: They really make me want to write more. I'm not going to give anything away about this chapter although I think you'll like it. That and the name of the chapter gives some hints (:**

**So this was done really fast. I'm glad its out already and I enjoyed writing it. **

**As always, hope you enjoy it.**

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><p>The sun shining, barley any clouds in the bright blue sky. The six dragons flew with worry for the coming events. Truth be told, they were more worried about gaining the trust of the other dragons rather than what would happen if they didn't. Silence again ensued the group as they flew. Not even Flame dared break this thick blanket. The purple eyes of Spyro scanned the horizon and surrounding area for any sign of attack or the first sign of the second camp. Nothing was in sight so far though.<p>

" Spyro." Said Cynder while flying a little closer to him. " Do you think we'll run into any more grublins next time we stop?"

" Hmm, its hard to say. Who knows they – whoever they are – might have grublins placed in every direction from our last point. I guarantee we'll run into them again."

" And I guarantee," Flame yelled at the two. " That we'll kick there freaky faces back into the other world." Flame grinned when Cynder turned and raised a scaly eyebrow at him.

" I quite agree." Started Ornis. " I don't think we have anything to worry about you see. We have every element at our disposal. Me and Cynder for wind, Flame for fire, Winfil and Earn for earth, and Spyro for ice and electricity. And that's not counting the other extra elements you two have." Ornis said nodding to Cynder and Spyro. " What were they, Shadow, poison, fear and convexity, I think-"

Winfil rolled his eyes and raised his voice a little. " We get the point Ornis. We're a well rounded group. But its not quantity that counts its quality."

" Hey! We'll win either way cause we're awesome. I guess we need to think of a name for our little group huh?" Flame said chortling away as he swooped from side to side in the air.

" Hey yeah. We could b known as like the Fewcos dragons." Ornis said animatedly.

" Fewcos?" Asked Flame sceptically.

" Yea Fewcos. Its all our initials put into one word. I kinda like -"

" Wait. All our initials and mine is first! Wooh" Flame yelled punching the air. Cynder slowed her pace a little dropping back from Spyro to come in line with Ornis and Flame. She had a look that screamed You-can-think-of-something-better.

" Come on guys." She said lazily." I don't really think we need a name. Although that would be quite good. Anything else you had in mind apart from Fewcos?"

" Well that was after having a quick brainstorm but that's it. Why?" Ornis said in a babbling on voice.

" We need something that has meaning. Something that whenever anyone talks about us, they know exactly who and what their dealing with." Cynder said while looking upward into the blue sky. Flame brought a talon to his chin and started to tap it repeatedly.

" Hmm. You give a good point." He said. Flame scrunched his eyebrows thinking as hard as he could which made Ornis laugh.

" Hey don't give yourself a headache thinking to hard-"

"Shush! … I'm thinking." Flame snapped. He thought for a moment more and smiled.

" Something meaningful you say. How about 'The Order'?" Cynder thought for a moment as did Winfil.

" I think that could work. Hmm imagine ' You have to stop or The Order will hear about this.' Or something like ' The Orders are on their way.'" Winfil said trying to imitate an older dragon. Cynder shook her head.

" We'd have to be like fifty years old and allot more experienced before that could work. How about we just leave the name in the box for just now and concentrate on what's to come?"

" Fine. But I'll still think on the way y'know." Flame said smiling.

" Oh we know Flame. We know." Replied Cynder. The chat between the dragons stayed like that from their on. Nothing more than some minor issues or teenage dragon dramas. All but Spyro and Earn were lively. The two dragons both at opposite ends of the group were deep in thought. Spyro was thinking of ways to convince the elders of Warbrin of their innocence and how to show them if they weren't convinced. Earn though had only two thoughts running through his head. How he would find the dragons that killed Star and how he would make them pay.

The dragons flew for the rest of the day. They stopped only for food and water but before the night Krebs in. The last camp point came into view. Unlike the last one where it was positioned next to a cliff. This one was smack bang in the middle of a forest. The place specifically was on a raised plateau and had a vantage point all around. Spyro smile to himself as they start angling towards the point.

" Well that's a fair bit more exposed than the other camp don't you think." Flame mocked

" Well its that or nothing so deal with it!" Spyro snapped raising his voice. Cynder started blankly at the back of the purple dragons head and sighed. She new exactly what was starting to come through but she couldn't say anything about it. She turned to the annoyed red dragon and whispered.

" Its not for long remember. Just for tonight."

" Well at least some people are normal in this group." Flame huffed while nodding to Cynder.

" Yeah well we're all getting a little stressed. Some more than others." Sighed Cynder looking at Spyro. Flame nodded and they all continued there decent into the forest. They were instantly immersed in all sorts of colours of green and brown. Some animals that were not far from were they landed disappeared within an instant with the gust of wind and the sight of six dragons. Winfil panned his head round the forest with an open mouth while Flame just rubbed his chin and nodded.

" Cynder." Spyro asked. His voice bubbly and soft like the normal dragon they all know. Cynder walked forward and looked at him.

" Spyro?"

" Right we both need to make another shadow wall. It needs to be stronger than the last one thought. And for the rest of you. Can I ask that one of you retrieve fire wood while another hunts some food and can either Earn or Winfil make a large earth shelter for all of us."

" Right on it Spyro. I'll grab some food." Flame said smiling again. Flame bent down before launching himself into the air and whipping himself over the tree line.

" Well he's getting food. I'll get the fire wood then." Ornis said before trotting of into the trees.

" Guess I'll make the shelters then." Winfil said nodding to Spyro ad Cynder.

" Great. Lets get to it Cyn." Said Spyro with a smile. Cynder nodded and both dragons started with the shadow wall. Winfil stalked to the middle of the clearing and gave a quick glance around before punching the ground with his front paws and a large shelter appear, easily large enough for the whole group.

" You guys can all huddle together happily there yourselves." Huffed Earn before stomping the ground once and a smaller shelter bursting from the ground. Earn then curled up inside it without another word. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, then at Winfil who gave a confused shrug before they all carried on.

Night was a completely different story for the forest. All around the group there were sounds of animals breaking the silence and cutting the atmosphere. There was no light from the moon or the stars for the clouds blocked them out completely. Obscuring all light except for the fire.

" So then. I'll be the one to start up the conversations again, as I did last time." Flame said with a grin.

" Ugh not again." Cynder said while putting a paw to her temple.

" Yes again." Flame said in a monotone. " So! This is the last night we have before we leave for Warbrin. Perhaps a recap on what we're doing."

" By the ancestors he thought of something useful for once." Winfil said in mock shock. Flame snorted giving out a bright puff of fire.

Ornis nodded with a smug grin. " Seems legit. Well allow me to start of. You see we think they'll be on high guard. What with all the fighting still going on and at least a quarter of Malefor's army still out there. I think we take a good nice and calm-"

" We've talked about this to much. We haven't thought about the other outcomes." Spyro said shaking his head.

" And what other outcomes could possibly come may I ask." Winfil said raising one eyebrow.

" Well there's, Warbrin might be completely willing to let us in. And then there's, what if we can't convince them? We'd have to stealthily grab the artefact and get our tails out of there."

" The mole spoke of her having one already though." Cynder piped up. Spyro nodded.

" The mole was wrong. Yes she has a peace of the puzzle to release whoever it is but its not an artefact. Its the blood she got from star. That is what all magical seals require to bring a dragon back to life. The blood of the living-"

" But stars dead." Ornis said

" Doesn't matter. She was alive when they got the blood." Said Spyro shaking his head. He then snapped his eyes to the trees and stared for a moment before he rose from a sitting position. " I'm going to stretch my legs-"

" uh no you're not." Cynder said putting a paw onto his chest. Spyro smiled.

" I'll be fine. I'll be back within ten minutes alright." He said assuringly. Cynder couldn't help but nod and she sat back down. Flame tilted his head as he watched Spyro walk off but was cut of when he heard a noise.

CRACK!

Flame pondered for a moment still looking at the darkening silhouette of Spyro before settling for thinking it a branch.

" So. If you had a choice, which element would you want to have?" Winfil asked.

" Oh Id stay with fire. Fire all the way." Flame said possibly glowing with smugness. Cynder huffed.

" Typical. Well id stay the same-"

" Figures. You would though cause you already have four rare elements." Ornis said. " If I had a choice id go for ice. Id love to be able to take water and do what I want with it. There's so much of the stuff as well in the world..." Ornis said while trailing off.

" You guys are all fools. Id go for convexity." Winfil chuckled. " That's the strongest and therefore best-"

" Ah but that is the element that corrupts its users." Cynder countered.

" Pfft. Corruption is the least of my concern. I'm incorruptible."

" Says the dragon who recently nearly was." Mumbled Flame.

" Hey now. That wasn't just any corruption that was an internal disillusion. Very different."

" Right." Flame said letting nodding i'm fake belief.

Not long after, Spyro trudged back into the camp with a puzzled look on his face. All of the dragons were asleep except for Earn. The green dragon eyed Spyro as he fazed through the shadow wall with a questioning look.

" Aren't you going to get some sleep?" Asked Spyro.

Earn shrugged. " Could ask you the same question."

" Mhmm. Well I'm going to sleep now. Try and get some sleep." Spyro said in a more softer voice before walking into the shelter and laying next to Cynder. Earn snorted and turned back to looking into the black forest. So many emotions were coursing through his body at the same time. It was hard to think a dragon of his age could contain it all. Earn only wanted revenge. But how could he. He had a duty to the people who were now his only friends. Earn huffed and dug his head into his arms and tried to get some sleep.

" Rise and shine everydragon. Time for the home run." Flame yelled making everyone jump out their scales.

" Flame i'm going to rip your throat out one of these days." Cynder growled getting up.

" Good morning to you too." Replied Flame with a grin.

" Seems like a good day. No clouds. Bright sun." Ornis babbled looking at the sky. There wasn't anything but the bright blue sky above them.

" Glad to hear it Ornis. I have a good feeling about Warbrin. I wager it'll go perfectly." Flame carried on ranting while walking around the small camp. Spyro trudged out and lifted a paw before letting it drop, pulling the shelter back into the ground.

" Uh, right i'm awake. Lets get too it." Said Spyro before lifting his wings and taking to the air.

" Someone's very keen today." Said Cynder with a smile. Spyro rolled his eyes. Winfil and Flame both joined him in the air before the rest took of and they were now hovering.

" Everyone. It will only take us about half the day to fly to Warbrin. We can make it in one journey. On the way I want you to try and make yourselves as friendly as possible. We want to gain their trust as fast as possible."

" Sounds good."

" Yes."

" Got it." all coursed through the group. Spyro nodded to himself and whipped round before pulling himself into the direction of the city. The dragons all flew for the exact amount of time Spyro said.

" Hey guys. Do you think the other artefacts will be harder than this? I mean to get anyway." Asked Flame. Cynder shook her head.

" Don't know. I guess we'll just have to find out when we get to it."

" Cynder's right. I think the ones in the desert will be hardest because of the heat." Winfil said looking at Flame. " But I think it can't get much harder than flying and picking up an artefact."

" You say that now." Flame chuckled.

Winfil snorted. " I think its-"

" Is that it?" Flame called from the right interrupting Winfil. Spyro squinted but could only see an orange haze up ahead. That and black clouds above.

" I think its just a storm-"

" Wait there's buildings. Yeah that is it but why is it …" Winfil started but had to stop.

" Its on fire." Growled Spyro. They came closer and flew over the outer wall, everything was ablaze. Sunlight was blocked out by the black clouds of smoke and the orange glow from the fire gave everything a dull vicious light. Spyro held his emotions at bay with the sight before him. Bellow he could make out the charred remains of dragons and other animals alike. He could hear cries and yells but couldn't locate anything making the source. He heard Flame and Winfil behind them retch at the sight but kept his eyes ahead. Spyro pressed his wings harder and powered through the thick smoke. His lungs killing him but he grunted and didn't let stop him. It was then that the temple came into view. Thought it was broken half way up the spire and the jagged remains of the top of the temple were all that remained. Smoke bellowed out the open top and the many holes surrounding it.

" A group the size of what the mole said couldn't have done this." Cynder said with fear and shock. They flew over the burning park and green gardens. Small toys the moles made for the hatchling dragons were scattered around the burning grass.

" Who … Who could've done this." Winfil said in a tremble of a voice.

Spyro didn't look away from the approaching temple and said in a growl." I have a good idea." Cynder looked at Spyro, not even a single tear was on his face. Not even the sign of sympathy for the city bellow them. She new the signs would appear soon but this was far from what she thought was soon. Spyro already seamed like a different dragon.

" The temple!" Yelled Spyro as they dove towards it. " Three of you split up and take the door." He ordered. Spyro, Cynder, and Ornis swooped in the open holes in the building while Earn, Flame and Winfil landed and took the door. They realised there was no point for the floors separating the levels were no more. The temple was now just a shell with walls.

" It has to be here." Flame said frantically. As they walked into the main room. Spyro had to close his eyes and compose himself while the others shrieked in shock and fear. On the ground all around the room where the lifeless bodies of the elders. None had survived. Burn marks and scratches were all around the room. And not just on the walls or the floor. Several peace's of the roof fell as they entered. Spyro opened his eyes and locked onto a pedestal were there was a shattered glass box. The purple dragon slowly walked over the bodies while his fellow dragons couldn't move. Cynder had tears running down her cheeks as did Ornis and Flame. And Winfil wasn't much better but had his eyes closed. Earn just stared. Every body his eyes fell upon seemed to have a yellow hue and all he could see was Star. He had no emotion on his green scaled face except for shock. Spyro stopped at the pedestal looking at the empty box. No blue diamond resided within it.

" They took it." Spyro whispered in utter defeat. " THEY TOOK IT!" The purple dragon yelled swiping the box and everything else on the pedestal of and into the wall. The box smashed and the glass tinkered to the floor giving small but noticeable reflections of Spyro's rage.

" We need to get back. We need to go now!" Flame yelled but no one heard him. Shock was still in there faces but was slowly being replaced by denial and fear.

Spyro turned with rage as fire swirled around the walls behind him. " We're leaving. We're not stopping until we reach Avalar." He said in a low voice. They all, with the exception of Spyro who staid put looking at the dragons around him, nodded without saying a word and began to turn.

" like what I've done with the place." Came a voice suddenly with a tinge of amusement in it. The dragons snapped their heads round and looked outside the door from which they came. All of them growled as they walked out and they were struck with fear at what they saw. Shadow dragons surrounded the the group numbering in the thirty's. Cynder felt her anger swell up as she walked forward.

" Why!"

The shadow dragon in the middle walked forward and grinned. " Because love, they put up a fight and I made sure that we ended it." He grinned. " And now I have the pests that are trying to take my lieges artefacts. I can rid the planet of you."

" You can try." Earn said emotionless.

" I'm sorry for what I have to do."

" No you're not." Winfil growled at the shadow dragon.

Cynder turned to the group behind her and smiled once. She nodded and turned back before yelling.

"Charge!" The black dragoness jumped forward with all her might and dug her claws into the nearest shadow dragon while the others sent waves of wind, fire and earth in all directions fighting of beams of shadow bolts and convexity. Darksis huffed before jumping from where he stood to in front of Flame. The red dragon growled and let lose a torrent of fire on the dragon. He kept it burning for at least half a minute before stopping and when the fire subsided, Darksis stood with flames burning from his shoulders and horns with a grin. Completely unharmed.

" You're going to have to do much. Better than that." Darksis then slammed Flame in the face sending him into the burning sky.

Cynder dodged two swipes from two different shadow dragons and ducked spinning of the spot letting her tail blade cut the legs of the shadows. She then jumped and punched the floor sending out a wave of her shadow element which sent the two dragons flying away from her. But her victory was short lived when three more took their place and the dragons she thought she had defeated got back up without a scratch and started fighting on of the others. The three dragons lunged for her but Cynder had buckets of experience when it came to fighting thanks to her past. She ducked before cartwheeling over two of the dragons before her and letting her claws smack them both in the face. She then stomped the ground sending her back into the air and using her wind element. Punched the last shadow dragon in the chest sending him into the temple and skidding to the feet of Spyro. The purple dragon stood staring at the sight before him with a mixture of anger and rage. Part of him wanted to rip the shadow dragons in half but another part wanted to continue the madness.

" Gah its you-" The shadow dragon started but was silenced when a purple paw covered in shadow energy slammed his head into the ground. Spyro huffed in annoyance.

" I was thinking."

" Spyro! Help us." Ornis yelled trying to hold of two shadow dragons but his wind element not making much use when the dragons he was facing were becoming transparent and invulnerable. The first shadow dragon spun and sent his paw into the blocking arm of Ornis but Ornis didn't have enough strength to hold of the punch and was sent back a few meters. The other dragon then whipped Ornis' feet out from under him sending him to the floor with a large crash. Ornis had moments to blink before he flung his paws out to stop the tail of one of the shadow dragons which was headed to his eye.

" SPYRO!" Ornis yelled again. Spyro shook his head and broke out of his trance and stared for a moment at the chaos before him. He looked and then saw Ornis on the ground holding the tail blade of a shadow dragon while two more were converging on him.

" Ornis i'm coming!" Spyro yelled and he transported to his right side, keeping his momentum up he punched the dragon with its tail pointed at Ornis' head and span round sending convexity at the other two. In that moment Spyro spotted three other shadows fighting Cynder and rage burned within him. He span round towards them, fire spiralling round his body and air making the spirals faster. Purple spurts of energy enhanced the fire making them have a purplish tinge. Spyro span and took one paw and leapt into the air before plunging his arm towards the three dragons who were in a line facing Cynder. The purple fire. Whipped itself out of its spiralling motion and followed Spyro's arm slamming into the shadow dragons one at a time but at a speed so high, it made it seem as if it were one hit. Spyro then leapt to the nearest shadow dragon and grabbed it by the neck lifting it up off the ground.

" Purple dragon!" Yelled a voice. Spyro turned, keeping a firm grip of the squirming shadow dragon in his talons and looked at a slightly smaller shadow dragon which was more sleek and deadly. " If you want a real fight. Come and get it." Darksis yelled. Spyro roared and tossed the dragon in his paw into a close by building before lunging at Darksis. The purple dragon brought both his paws up which were covered in both convexity and dark energy, ready to make the killing blow. Darksis however smiled at Spyro and before the purple dragons talons came near him. The shadow dragon somersaulted over Spyro and rapped his tail around the purple dragons neck before he flung him into the walls of the temple.

Darksis tutted before speaking while shaking a talon at Spyro. " I thought you were better than that. I know you have strength but what good is it if you haven't got the skill to use it."

" Its good enough to kill you." Roared Spyro and he leapt into the air, Earth, water, fire, convexity, shadow, wind and air spiralled around him before being sent as a torrent of almost all the elements straight to Darksis. The shadow dragon tutted again before cartwheeling out of the way and letting the beam hit both Winfil and many other shadow dragons behind him.

" First rule. Know you're surroundings. That includes behind your target. Second, don't let anger come between you and your goal."

" I can beat you. I'm strong enough-"

" Oh there's no doubt about that. You're not even using your full power. Look you're still purple scaled. Not even in your dark form. I expected more." Spyro growled at Darksis and was about to speak when Darksis disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the fight. " We're leaving! Everydragon go. Transport away!" He ordered. Spyro watched as the sound of swooshing wind accompanied all the puffs of dark black smoke as the shadow dragons disappeared. Soon all that remained was Darksis. Standing in the middle with all the other dragon staring at him.

" Hmm. You all fight rather well for normal dragons. I'm impressed."

" That's only the beginning of it!" Yelled Spyro who jumped towards Darksis and as he was heading threw the air two things happened. Spyro's scales blackened into darkness as he made the change into his dark form and the second thing to happen was when Darksis transported away while chuckling.

" Damn!" Yelled Spyro hitting the ground with a paw.

" Hey." Came a voice. Spyro looked up at the same time he felt a paw on his back. He looked up and met the eyes of Cynder staring back at him. Spyro could always count on being brought out of his sad moods by Cynder. He always was. " All we need is one artefact and they can't win. We only need one."

" I know. I just could have beaten the leader of the shadow dragons. Why didn't I use my dark powers. I'm such an idiot."

" Your not an idiot. You can beat them all as this Spyro with ease if you believe you can." Cynder said softly. Spyro looked at her and smiled.

" You think?"

" I know so." Cynder said with a smile. She brought him up and into a cuddle which Spyro gladly accepted.

" Winfil could have fought better though." Ornis chuckled in the background.

" Took the words right outa my mouth." Replied Flame absent-mindedly while cleaning his wounds.

" And you'll be taking my paw out your mouth in a minute, Flame you lazy idiot." Replied Winfil while trying not to pay attention to them.

" Ancestors Darn it." Flame said cleaning one cut to much.

" Close shave there hey Flame." Earn said now looking around for any more signs of a threat.

" Ah by the ancestors darn it we could have had them! Why did I even accept this task! The most important dragoness to me is round about the village back home. And I'm stuck up the backside of beyond without so much as a note." Flame yelled getting annoyed at tending his wounds and letting his feelings out.

" Well that's what you agreed to coming out here." Ornis said dismissively.

" I mean she could be anywhere. I might have to even fight of other dragons who want her-"

" Well its nothing like this at all then is it Flame." Cynder said with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

" Its just a mission. Nothing more. I doubt anyone will actually die." Flame said.

" I wouldn't bet on it Flame you're killing me right now." Winfil said making them all laugh. Spyro stood up and shook out the stiffness of his legs and sighed.

" We best be going home then." Some nods and murmurs of agreement came next and all the dragons, be it easily or not. Took flight to and headed towards Avalar. Flying back over the now silently burning away city bellow them. They only had a certain number of tries left to stop Verena or she will win.

Some days can be good, and some can be bad. Some days however can be one of those rare few in which everything goes right for you. Where all you want comes true or becomes achievable. Ember stood in the village looking at the hut in which the guardians where seated. She wasn't blinking or showing emotion. Simply just staring. She had no pain for the near future, but in her eyes. The guardians were now the traitors. She new they would side with Cynder even if she could prove them wrong. This made her furious and a crunching noise surrounded her as she dug her talons into the mud. She new siding with Verena was also wrong but it was the lesser of two evils. In order to stop Cynder, Verena agreed to help her in any way necessary. She knew Verena was only in it to inflict pain on Spyro but as long as she could rid the world of Cynder, she would overthrow Verena after. Ember turned and stalked of to one of the side streets of the village and was deep in thought.

" Ember." A voice suddenly rang out. Ember whipped her head round, teeth bared but saw the sight of a small frail ice dragon. She rose a little and let her self relax a little but kept her guard up.

" Indeed I am. Now what do you want?"

" I'm here to bring you to someone." The small ice dragon said in a shaky voice. Ember couldn't help but chuckle.

" And who may I ask is this _someone_?"

" He doesn't give his name out. But he told me to retrieve you specifically because you and him have the same goal. To kill Cynder-"

" Stop. Someone else wants to stop her aside from me?"

" Yes."

" Hmm. What's your name?" Asked Ember.

" Its Thaw."

" Well then Thaw, you had better lead the way." Said Ember waving a paw to the end of the ally. Thaw's face lit up and he turned leading Ember out the ally. They walked through the village, many places Ember recognised until they came to a large wooden building. It was circular and had a dome for a roof. Thaw opened the door and Ember walked through with a curt nod to the younger dragon. She was met with a dark hall which lead to a door with a creak of light escaping from within. Ember could smell the smoke from a fire place as she walked down the hallway and to the door. She took a small breath before opening it and it revealing a small room. In it was some chairs and one window taking up most of the wall. Within the room ember saw a dragon who was seated facing towards her. He had blue scales and white horns with a purple tinged white underbelly. His soft green were staring at the fire. He looked up upon hearing Ember's pawsteps and grinned.

" Ah Ember. The one who doesn't succumb to the lies the guardians have brought upon us. Please?" He said lifting a paw to the seat next to him. Ember slowly sat down and the ice dragon smiled. " My name is Aerilin. And I believe we have something in common."


	7. Prometheus

**A/N: Here you go. another chap. Now I personally liked this one the most so far. It has so many influences on it. Id like to see if anyone can see them :)**

**So anyway enough of me ranting on. As always, I hope you like it :)**

* * *

><p>Ember sat staring at Aerilin with a little confusion.<p>

" When you say _in common_ you mean..."

" Cynder." Aerilin finished for her with a small smile. " And it seems i'm not the only one who's been plotting away behind the scenes, waiting for the right moment to spring." He continued. " Can I say this Ember, Iv wanted to exact my revenge for a long … long time. Since before you ever hatched to be correct."

Ember watched and gazed with wonder. She squinted her eyes and looked at him and dared to ask the question. " … What did she do to you?" She asked in a whisper. She jumped when Aerilin laughed aloud.

" There's no need to be intimidated my dear. We're all on the same team aren't we?" Aerilin waited until he got a nod from Ember before continuing. " You can probably guess what she did to me when I say … I had a family once." There was no sign of sadness or grief in his voice. Ember realised what he meant and hung her head.

" I'm sorry-"

" For what? You didn't kill them Cynder did. I should be thanking you. You're the closest dragon we have to Cynder and therefore are able to harm her the most."

" And how is that may I ask?"

" Flame." Aerilin said as an answer. Ember tilted her head to the side in confusion and asked.

" How does he fit in-"

" Oh Ember i'm sure you can fit the puzzle together. Its not that big after all. But i'll do it to save you the trouble. You know Flame likes you correct?"

" yea but how of all dragons did you know about that. I haven't met you until now?"

" More questions hmm. Well I suppose you need an answer for that but i'll tell you on the way." Said Aerilin rising from his seat.

" On the way where?" Ember asked suspiciously.

" Why to the my coliseum – although its nowhere near as big as an average sized one – but I still like to call it that."

" What, Why are we going-"

" another question. I have some dragons at my disposal who are part of the rebellion. Well not really a rebellion but part of the … union of dragons who want Cynder to pay."

" There's more out there!" Ember gasped.

" Far more than you can imagine. We're going to this coliseum to convince a whole lot more as well. Come" Said Aerilin while beckoning Ember to follow him. They both walked out the back door of the house and through the back streets of the village. Aerilin looked around the back street and only saw a red fire dragon flying away. He smiled and continued talking.

" Now. As I was saying before. I have at least ten dragons who follow me and believe what you and I believe about Cynder. They're all for taking her down. The reason I know about you is because I have had my dragons watching every move Cynder makes. That includes her friends and … rivals." Aerilin said while looking forward. They were walking down the main street of the village and there weren't many dragons around. Ember nodded to herself before asking.

" So that explains how you know about me."

" Yes. As for wanting Flame of all dragons. Picture this, A group of six dragons consisting of Flame, Spyro, Cynder, Earn, Winfil and Ornis. Now picture them laughing as they normally would with Flame at the heart of almost every joke. Now take Flame out of the picture and … you have your bait. The group would be hurt the most by taking away there source of happiness and humour in the group and therefore split them a little making it easier for us to catch Cynder. It would make the biggest impact so to speak. And where one dragon from the group goes, the others will most likely follow." Aerilin said. Ember nodded thinking it all through while they walked. They were now going through a small market. Ember let herself look over everything and she smiled watching the smaller dragon helping out. She stopped momentarily to look at something but when she turned to catch up to Aerilin she suddenly walked straight into someone.

" Sorry!" She said desperately.

" No need madam." The dragon said. He was red and had a golden underbelly but Ember couldn't see the face from a hat the stranger had on. The only things she could see where a pair of hornrings and a larger bulge on the front of his snout.

" Sorry again. I'll be on my way." Ember said before catching up to Aerilin who was waiting for her.

" What was that then?" He asked cheerily.

" Just bumped into him and I was saying sorry." Ember said dismissively. Aerilin nodded. They walked and turned for a little longer before they came to a building that was circular in shape much like a coliseum and over three stories tall. There was two green dragons at the front door guarding it and the immediately frowned at Ember and Aerilin. Aerilin however raised an arm and smiled.

" Be still my friend. It is I, Aerilin and Ember." Ember watched as the gaurds glanced at each other before dropping their down into a sitting position again.

" Begin your pardon Aerilin. We didn't know what you looked like-"

" Think nothing of it. Just don't let anyone else through until we're finished."

" Very well." Aerilin then walked through the door and Ember followed. It was surprisingly warm warm inside and there were candles everywhere. They walked further until they came to a very tall tunnel which, from what Ember could see, travelled out into the coliseums grounds. Aerilin turned to Ember and smiled.

" This is were we separate for the time being. You need to go up those stairs to your seat."

" Wait wow wow. You never said anything about separating. I thought you said-."

" I never said you would be going alone now did I? No Thaw here will be with you." Said Aerilin before he snapped his talons and indeed, Thaw came to his side and hung his head obediently. " Thaw. Would you be a sport and take Ember to the viewing box?"

" Yes. I would love to sir." Thaw said looking up slowly. Aerilin chuckled.

" There now, isn't that a little better?"

" Whatever. I'm still not convinced." Ember said a little heatedly which only gained another laugh from Aerilin.

" You will be once this is over." The ice dragon said with a smile.

" Come on Ember lets go." Thaw said. Ember turned slowly and stalked after the smaller dragon up the stairs until they came to a small seating area. Ember couldn't help but let her mouth drop. From the outside the coliseum looked nothing more than a few stories tall but what she didn't realise is that it digs under ground within the building. She was now staring from the seventh level up in a podium seating area down to the stage in the middle of the coliseum. Dragons of all different shapes, sizes and colours numbering in the hundreds were looking at the stage from every direction. She couldn't make out anything the dragons were saying but one stood out to her. A group of three fire dragons stood on the opposite side of the building looking down. But one of them wasn't looking down, but in fact looking at her. Directly at her. Not moving or speaking, in fact when Ember looked closer she could see that the fire dragon wasn't part of the other group and stood there on his own. She shivered and turned to Thaw. She was about to ask something but the crowd stopped her when they broke into cheer. She looked back at the stage and saw Aerilin walking out with a proud grin on his face.

Aerilin walked into the middle of the stage and looked at the dragons all around him. He stayed quite for a moment until the dragons calmed down and chuckled. He cleared his throat before looking up and smiling.

* * *

><p>Slowly the crowd erupted into roars of applause and the corners of Aerilin's mouth tugged in a smile. He turned and pulled himself into the air and landed directly in front of both Ember and Thaw on the podium seats. Aerilin walked past Ember and whispered.<p>

" Welcome, to your new army." Ember shivered at his words and gazed at the dragons chanting the name Prometheus.

The six dragons flew, as Spyro had said. Without stopping. Without resting. When they were hungry or thirsty they would fly low and take a gulp of water from a stream or snatch up a quick snack from the ground and carry on. Even so they were still feeling the effects and were clambering dangerously close to falling from the sky out of pure exhaustion. Spyro stared at the horizon desperately wanting to see the gates of the cheetah village. His wings screamed at him every time he pushed the air down to keep him aloft but he shrugged it off. Even with his higher pain threshold and higher strength than the others, even the purple dragon was being pushed. And if he was being pushed then the others would be within throwing distance of deaths door.

" Spy … Spyro I have to … I have to stop." Flame wheezed.

" No. We have to power on … we have to-"

" Spyro I can't … I can't go on." Flame managed before his wings failed him and he began to fall with a small whipping noise coming from his wings as they caught the air.

" FLAME!" Spyro shrieked before spinning round and pulling his wings to his side. The others turned and were hot on his tail. Spyro shot through the air as fast as he could, letting gravity do most of the work but it wasn't enough. Flame was getting closer and closer to the ground. Spyro cursed himself before accessing his dark powers and before long. His body was covered in his dark energy. Spyro then opened concentrated on Flame and suddenly became a blur. Using convexity speed he missile'd through the air and caught up to Flame In an instant. The purple dragon grabbed Flame's body and flung open his wings halting their fall and slowly coming to the ground. Flame fell limp out his hand unconscious and Spyro sat struggling to stay up.

" IS he alright!" Yelled Ornis who crashed into the ground beside them instead of landing. Spyro nodded his head. The others then fell to the ground around them with only Cynder and Earn managing to stay up.

" Spyro … lets just stay here for now." Cynder pleaded.

Spyro nodded his head with a sigh. " Very well. We'll stay here for two hours before we head of again. We can't be far now."

" That's what you … That's what you said last time we nearly stopped for a rest." Said Ornis muffled with his head and face under his arms.

" This time I mean it. We've passed both our camps on the way and I think if we all listen carefully, we can actually hear the village-"

" Nope nothing … I'm so hungry." Winfil complained. Cynder chuckled a little before hearing a strange noise. She turned her head round to see a small deer grazing not far from where they had landed. She chuckled and said.

" A deer."

" Dinner!" Winfil said while drooling at the mouth. Winfil leapt into the air towards the deer but before he came anywhere near it, the deer disappeared into the distance.

" No I almost had it, I almost had it!" Winfil howled before he snapped his head up and tilted it a little. " Its laughing at me out there. Its laughing!"

" Winfil stop it and come have a rest. We're leaving within the next two hours." Cynder sighed. Winfil reluctantly sat down with a huff. Ornis was sniggering away and trying to hold it in but with a resounding fail. Winfil raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

" Are you laughing at-" But Winfil stopped when Ornis burst out laughing and hit the floor.

" … You're such an idiot …" Ornis said between his laughs. " You kill me honestly Winfil."

" I'm glad I amuse you." Said Winfil curtly. Cynder smiled and left to sit next to Spyro.

" Well half an hour left. I'm glad to see you're awake now Flame." Said Winfil while pacing around the camp.

" I'm glad to see you're still happy." Said Flame sarcastically. Spyro was sat in the middle watching the sky. Clouds had taken over and the sun was nearly gone. Spyro new when they got back it was going to be a blow to the guardians to know they failed. Spyro himself was disgusted with himself for failing. He didn't fail when it came to defeating the dark master, the worst dragon ever in his and the guardians lifetime. And yet he could succeed in getting a small artefact. A whole city fell because he wasn't fast enough either.

" How do you think the guardians will take it?" Spyro blurted out to the rest of the group. The once constant murmur from them all fell and there was silence. Earn coughed a little.

" There's nothing they can do. We failed. We can only try and succeed in our next journey. Simple as that." Huffed Earn.

" Couldn't have said it better myself Earn." Said Spyro. Flame looked around him and saw that nearly everyone was either sitting and ready to go or lying down and falling asleep. Flame snorted as he got up and jumped into the air, coming to a hover above them all.

" Can we just go now? I think we're all good enough."

Cynder stood and stretched her wings and looked around. " I think we can make it. After all its not that far away now. What do you all think?"

" I think we can do it. By the ancestors with ease I think." Ornis said jumping into the air. Spyro chuckled as he walked over to Cynder.

" You know how to get them going don't you."

" Meh, its a skill." She said with a wink before taking to the sky herself. Spyro shook his head before jumping as well. He told them that this was the final push and they new all too well what was to come when they reached the village. Spyro shivered at the thought. Flame for the first time looked serious and Earn had a grim look on his face. The group flew for no more than ten minutes when the sight of the village came into view.

" Well guys. Prepare to be the bearers of bad news." Sigh Winfil as the walls grew closer. Spyro could see the guards patrolling the wall spot them and sound the bell, to which he then saw three large dragons come out the main gates with a smile in which he new he would have to wipe clean off.

" Can't get any worse than fighting them shadow dragons." Huffed Flame.

Terrador was beaming with the coming sight of the six dragons. He turned a little to Chief Prowlus and smiled. " I told you they would pull through didn't I?" Prowlus grunted in return and folded his arms.

" It was indeed within my calculations and premonitions that they would be unharmed upon their return." Volteer babbled. Both Cyril and Terrador let him continue on his babbling. They weren't going to stop him on this occasion.

" Spyro! Please can-" Cyril started as the dragons came to a stop. He was silenced when he saw there faces . Only grim and bereft faces were looking back at them.

Spyro only shook his head. " We didn't get it." He muttered before he hung his head.

" The shadow dragons." Winfil whispered.

" you … you didn't get the artefact." Terrador said in shocked silence. " Get inside before the other dragons see you. This must be discussed elsewhere.

" Tell me what in ancestors happened!" Terrador growled. Spyro stood and took point allowing the others not to feel the wrath of Terrador. Spyro sighed before starting.

" We got there exactly when we were meant to be. Only it was the city..."

" Warbrin?" Asked Prowlus.

Spyro nodded. " There was no city left when we got there. Only ash and rubble-"

" No!" Prowlus said slamming a hand onto the table. " That can't be possible. I know as well as these three that Warbrin have the best flyers out there. In fact its second only to Warfang. How could that happen. How can a mere thirty dragons take down a city as large as that?"

Spyro snorted at the cheetah chieftain. " Because, Prowlus. They are not your average dragons. They are real, and yet they are not. They are immortal, and yet they are mortal. You can't kill them unless you have the power of shadow and if you don't then you can only slow them down. As most of us found out at said city-"

" Wait they were still their when you arrived?" Asked Cyril.

Spyro nodded. " Although we didn't encounter them until we were just about to leave, which tells me that they must have been watching us … In fact i'm sure they would've been watching us."

" Then how did you survive?" Asked Terrador more seriously. Spyro shook his head and stared back at the others for help. Cynder was about to move but Earn beat her to it and walked to the table.

" They let us live. We put up a fight, a losing one at that but after a while they just left."

" Hmm. Did they say anything about what their plans were?"

" Nothing. Just a small boast about how good a fighter they were and then they just left."

Terrador sat on his haunches and thought about the events he was being told. He new one thing for sure. Warbrin was no more. Terrador thought it odd that Verena's shadows travelled to Warbrin first instead retrieving the easier artefacts in the desert. Something clicked in the earth guardians head but he didn't want it to be true.

" You said you got there exactly on time?" Asked the green dragon interrupting Prowlus' rant at Spyro. The purple dragon nodded confused. Terrador sighed in defeat. " Then I know where they're going next and we need to stop them."

" Where?" Asked Cyril sceptically.

" There going to Wartalon next. Think about it. So far they've taken the cities that could be used to form an alliance against them. Warbrin was first and I can bet my earth guardians status that they're going for Wartalon next. It makes sense, take away the ability of the opponents military resources and leave them vulnerable to anything."

" Then we need to go now!" Earn said getting to his paws.

" Not so fast young dragon. You will stay here for one day before you leave. Warbrin may have been two days away but Wartalon is but only one. And Warbrin is three days away from Warfang so I can bet the shadow dragons aren't even back yet. Rest and prepare for tomorrow … all of you." Said Terrador as he rose to a stand. All the dragons nodded before rising and exiting the door. Spyro however stayed put and stared at Terrador.

" But Terrador. Surly there's no harm in leaving now, Yes we're still tired but it means we'll get there well and truly before the shadow dragons."

Terrador sighed as he stared down at the purple dragon, not by much, but still stared down. " Spyro, You have done many things in your life. But this is something you cannot do alone. The others won't be able to keep up with you. Maybe Cynder but any normal dragon wont, and they're probably walking without the slightest amount of energy left. You need to let them catch up."

Spyro looked down and thought for a moment before realising there was no getting around it. He looked back up with a half hearted smile. " Alright. I'll get some rest too then."

" I'm glad to hear it Spyro."

" Wartalon! We need to be there as soon as possible." Flame growled outside his tent along with the others. They'd all walked to Flames tent and decided to stay there until it was time rest.

" You can't expect to just get up and fly away to Wartalon after that stunt you pulled outside the village." Replied Ornis, narrowing his eyes.

" Bu …" Flame stopped at the look Cynder gave him thought about his next words carefully. " Fine! If I can't leave then I suppose I'll just try and find Ember." The red dragon said before getting to his fight and stalking off further into the village. Ornis let out a sigh.

" What are we gonna do with him." He said more to himself than anyone else.

" Its not him i'm that worried about. I'm still concerned about Earn. He seams to have come out his shell but i'm scared that since we're back in the village and no longer stuck together, he'll just go off on his own." Cynder said while drawing a picture in the mud with a talon. Both Winfil and Ornis exchanged a glance before agreeing.

" But he wants to come with us again. That's got to mean something-"

" Yes it means something. It means he wants revenge on the people who killed Star. Not to be with us. There's a difference." Huffed Ornis before mock pushing Winfil's shoulder.

Flame stalked through the streets looking round every corner. So far he'd found nothing to do with Ember. Not even the name gave any signs to anyone he asked. The red dragon wondered aimlessly round the village looking until he spotted something. He thought he would never find her because there were after all, the entire population of Warfang in the village and then cheetahs on top of that. Flame wondered round every bend and corner and before long, found himself in a distant part of the village. He walked down before suddenly a door swung open to his face.

" Whole lot more as well. Come." Flame heard someone say. He didn't think twice before talking to the sky in the opposite direction. The red fire dragon flew up and over the nearest building before slamming into the building roof and looking back. He saw an ice dragon walk out the door and after him.

" What!" Flame said in whispered shock. Ember walked out after him. And after that a smaller ice dragon came out. " What is this the ice dragon convention." Flame snorted to himself. He watched as they walked away and realised he was going to follow them. He looked up to the sky and put his paws together and said in mock prayer. " Oh mister Sherclaw Holmes. Please let your method work." Flame then lunged over the side of the building and into the alleyway following them. They rounded two corners in which Flame kept close pace. Flame past a small window sill in which he picked up a large oversized black hat and stuck it on his head as well as a gold coin before he carried on. He watched as they both walked round almost every corner that came before they walked onto a large street. Flame came round the same corner and stuck to the side. He new if he got spotted it was over. To Flames good luck, another street ran parallel to the one he was on. Flame leapt onto that street and started to run ahead of Ember and Aerilin. He ran until he new he was at least far away from them that if they were to see him, they wouldn't recognise him. Flame jumped back onto the main street and found himself in a market. Flame looked and saw both the dragons coming.

" Right think think think think." Flame said before a bulb went off in head. He looked at a shop keeper for hornrings and when she turned Flame grabbed two hornrings and dropped the gold coin which he previously picked up. Attachment them quickly Flame also saw a mask stall. Flame walked past it and casually picked up a mould for the snout which made it look swollen. The red dragon quickly put it on and started walking directly towards Ember. Looking the other way and keeping his speed at a neutral. He saw her stop to look at something and Flame inwardly smiled.

" Always curious." he whispered. He carried on walking in which he past both the ice dragons. Flame only got a quick look but from the smile the larger ice dragon had on him. He didn't like it. Flame saw Ember turning to carry on and this was his chance. He lined himself up and walked straight into her.

" Sorry!" She said desperately. Flame smirked while putting his head lower to keep his eyes hidden. Flame turned his tongue up so as to sound different and said.

" No need madam." Flame could see Ember trying to decipher who he was and kept his head low. The red dragon waited for her to speak again.

" Sorry again. I'll be on my way." Ember said before she dashed of past his side and to where, he presumed, the ice dragon was. Flame turned and saw them walking round another corner.

" Where are you going?" He said to himself while talking off his extra facial features. Flame then continued following them, getting weird looks from some dragons but nothing more than what he had before. Soon he saw them both come to a large circular building and Flame was going to follow them but he was stopped at the sight of guards at the door. Flame cursed under his breath before realising what building it was. He smirked and flew round the other side before ascending to the roof. There he found an unlocked hatch and quickly jumped in. he found himself surrounded by hundreds of dragons. Flame scanned the dragons and eventually came to the podium box and that's where he saw her. Ember sat with the smaller ice dragon and she did something. She looked directly at him. Flame wondered if she recognised him but he didn't have time to think because the crowed soon applauded and he saw why. The larger ice dragon walked onto the stage. He cleared his throat before speaking.

" Goliath Prometheus , one of my true friends. Born in Warhorn, although he was the perfect example of a Warfang citizen, but a Warhorn dragon nonetheless. Favoured fighting all his battles head on and not letting anyone come in his way. He sought out to win by any means necessary. Settling for nothing short of victory, or he would die trying. When asked by his brother Leonis Prometheus, Why is it that he so forcefully endured whatever came at him on his own without any help what so ever. Goliath couldn't help but smile and said ' It makes me a better dragon.'

The names that were given to them both, are because of their apparent lineage. To the ancestor called, Prometheus." The ice dragon paused for a moment to chuckle.

" Prometheus … Prometheus was the dragon that stole fire from the gods of convexity. He was the dragon that started the bloodline of all fire and ice dragons here and now with his mate Aquaria. The Ancestor who gave us ice. He new what he did was wrong but he saw it for the good of all dragons alike. When news of his treachery reached that of the gods of convexity, well … they weren't very happy with Prometheus for his betrayal. When Prometheus was caught and brought to justice for his spectacular theft, the gods saw it fit that the punishment would and forever more be, for Prometheus to reside on the farthest moon from his beloved planet. And for every time the bright side of the moon reached him, a dragon of immeasurable size would swoop down as the golden ropes of Tartarus that held down the Titans themselves, seized and strapped him to the largest rock on the moon. The dragon would always rip through his stomach and eat his liver over and over. Day after day. All because he gave us the element of fire.

" Goliath and Leonis were named after this Titan Ancestor because they new that they would bring new things to this world, be it stolen, be it fought and won for. Or created from their intelligence. Allow me to ask you to remember the defences around Warhorn at the time of the great war. Built and created by the Prometheus'. They tried their hardest to protect their city and they died trying.

" I stand here not as a dragon. But as a beacon. A symbol. I'm here to tell you the type of enemy that brought the destruction of Warhorn and nearly the entire world is once again out their." Aerilin pointed to the large tunnel in which he came from. " You know her by many names. The Dark mistress. The Evil dark dragon and most notably, the Terror of the Skies.

For those of you here who know _me_. You will know that I gave my word to honer the name Prometheus. That I will help and treat any who believe in a fairer world, the same way as I would family. That I will settle for nothing short of greatness or die trying as they did. …For those of you here who do not know me. Allow me to introduce myself to you all. My name … is Aerilin Prometheus … and if you will join me, Id like to rid the world of Cynder." Flame stood with his mouth ajar. Aerilin smiled looking all around before he flew up to the podium box and whispered something into Embers ear. Flame didn't want to stay any longer. He turned and ran as fast as he could out the coliseum before spreading his wings and launching himself into the air. He flew and soon found his tent with only Ornis in it. Flame landed with a thump and smacked the ground.

" FLAME! Where have you been the others are sleeping because we're leaving in about seven hours for Wartalon. Get some -"

" Listen Ornis I need to tell you so-"

" Zip it Flame. Get some sleep and be at the gates for eight tomorrow morning sharp." Ornis snapped before launching into the air going towards his own tent. Flame sighed and looked at where Ornis had flown and whispered.

" I need to tell you that Cynder's going to die."


	8. Wartalon

**A/N: Well then a little gap since my last update. Sorry about that. Well here you go then for all you vibrant readers reading this. Thank you if you're still keeping to this story and if not then sorry if it became to boring :( Anyway I'm not going to talk much longer. But this felt a little like a gap filler to me but I'll let you decide. Here's to you readers**

**And as always, hope you enjoy it :) **

* * *

><p>Spyro opened his eyes to the calling of a small buzzing noise outside his tent. He listened for a moment before it clicked in his mind that it could be a threat. Having his wing wrapped around Cynder, He quickly yanked it away and jumped out the tent.<p>

" Spyro what in ancestors?" Cynder growled annoyed as the purple dragon disappeared out the green doors.

" I don't know Cynder. Whatever it is its buzzing."

" I didn't mean that I meant that i'm now freezing. And what do you mean It?"

" I don't know." Spyro said again. Cynder rolled her eyes and hauled herself up and out the tent. She couldn't help but laugh at what she saw. The mighty purple dragon was in a battle stance over what he didn't know was only a small alarm made by the moles.

" Spyro you idiot."

" Huh?" Spyro said confused.

" Its an alarm for us. You see, when the sun hits this point the heat burns the _very_ heat sensitive wire and it allows the crystals to become visible to the light. Hence the buzzing." Cynder gave a brief explanation. Spyro raised a scaly eyebrow and turned back to the device. He chuckled a little.

" How do we turn it off?"

At this Cynder tilted her head and scrunched her face. " Huh, I didn't think to ask actually." She said sheepishly.

" I'll tell you how you turn it off." Came a voice. Both dragons turned before a large white paw smashed through it stopping the buzzing. Cynder huffed at Ornis.

" You didn't have to break it."

Ornis gave a toothy grin. " Oh I know that. But that was the fastest way to stop it you see."

" Well then we best be getting ready. Ornis, get everyone else up and ready." Spyro said.

" Right you are." Ornis said with a nod. Spyro turned back to Cynder with a smile that meant more than just a good sight to the black dragoness.

" Cynder. Perhaps we should travel to the gates?"

" Yeah. There's nothing else to do anyway." Said Cynder with a nod. Both dragons then turned and head for the gates.

Ornis Landed next to three tents which housed, Winfil, Flame and Earn. He leaned his head into Winfil's tent and grinned. He took a deep breath and.

" Rising shine sleeping beauty!" He yelled. Winfil jumped five feet into the air, going threw the tent with fright and hovered there. He looked down at Ornis who was on his back laughing.

" Very funny." He mumbled coming back down to the ground. Flame walked out of his tent rubbing his eyes as well as Earn.

" Uncalled for guys. Uncalled for." The red dragon said sleepily.

" Hmm. Indeed it was. Care to explain Ornis." Winfil asked. Ornis shook the laughter away before speaking.

" Yeah we just need to get to the gate. We're leaving in like the next thirty minutes. Spyro and Cynder are their waiting for us."

" Right. Off we go then." Earn said boringly. Flame was not paying much attention really. All he heard was where they had to go and who was waiting there. Suddenly it snapped into place in the red dragons mind.

" Cynder. Prometheus!" Flame yelled before leaping into the air and heading towards the gate. Flame flew as fast as he could, straining his wings. Ornis and Earn Were behind him calling but Flame didn't care. Soon he spotted them standing next to Volteer and Cyril at the main gates.

" Guy's Guys!" He yelled slamming into the ground before them.

" Good Flame I'm glad-" Spyro started but Flame cut him off.

" Cynder! Cynder I need to tell you something." Flame gasped. Cynder narrowed her eyes and leaned in.

" What?" She asked.

" Calm yourself before you speak young dragon." Cyril said looking at him.

" Yes, Speaking in the condition you are in now will withhold information vital to us while you try to regain your breath." Volteer added. Cyril just looked at him before turning back to Flame. The red dragon gathered his thoughts and looked only at Cynder.

" Cynder. The dragon Aerilin is going to-"

" Is going to do what." Came a voice. Flame snapped his head and saw the very dragon. Aerilin stood looking at him with a questioning look. Cyril chuckled.

" I see you must have met Aerilin. He is my most trusted ice student. I haven't saw him since Warfang. Why he may even surpass me. You know he is one of the Prometheus' and he is no disappointment to the great shadows he has to fill."

" Yeah and he's helping me with my poison abilities because its kind of like ice and water." Cynder said nodding to Aerilin.

" Water is liquid. Poison, be it deadly. Is also a liquid. Therefore both the same. I'm helping dear Cynder control her ability when its outside her mouth." Said Aerilin with a chuckle. " Now, what did you want to say?" To this Flame shrank back a little. He could see the glint in Aerilin's eyes.

" Erm. Nothing. Nothing." Flame said sadly.

" Well before he goes. Can I have a word with the fire dragon." Aerilin said with a cheerful smile. Cyril smiled and nodded. " Come on then Flame. Come with me." Flame shuddered and gathered heat into his body so he could produce fire on the spot. Just in case of an attack. He followed Aerilin into the makeshift temple where they stopped. Flame noticed no one in the halls and suddenly felt very aware of the ice dragon in front of him. Aerilin stopped and turned to Flame. The smile still on his face.

" Now Flame. Dearest Flame..."

" I know what you're doing." Flame blurted out. Aerilin raised an eyebrow.

" Oh you do now do you. Well see Flame. I can't have you ruining any of my plans. Which is why I need to do this. And I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this to you." Sighed Aerilin. Flame went to walk towards him but suddenly was grabbed from behind by two pairs of arms and slammed to the ground. He saw two dragons holding him down while one was at the door.

" You see Flame. While my main element is water. And I cannot control any other element beside the transparent liquid. I have been studying magic." Aerilin saw the small flicker of fear in Flame and he smiled. "And not just any magic. But in fact the dark magic used by Malefor himself. You see because I am a normal dragon. The dark magic doesn't corrupt me and coupled with some inventions to help me control it. I have learned allot. Including, how to erase ones memory-"

" You can't!" Yelled Flame but it was muffled by a paw from the dragons. Aerilin smiled.

" Oh yes I can. And I will." He said walking forward. Aerilin put a single talon to the head of Flame and a small purple light shone out. The ice dragon held it there for a moment before taking it away and Flame slumped to the floor.

" What did you do sir?" Asked the green dragon holding Flame's right arm.

" Why, I erased all his memories about our little conference. That and due to me taking his memories, he would fall asleep. So I gave him the symptoms of dragons ring." Said Aerilin with a smirk. " Now you all get out and disappear. I need to be alone when I tell them outside what happened." All the dragons bowed and scurried off into the dark halls and vanished. Aerilin looked at Flame and waited for a moment. Before long he took some deep breaths before breaking out into an all out sprint for the door.

" … So that is why we need to go forward with the plan." Cyril finished just as Aerilin burst through the temple doors.

" Everyone." He gasped. " Its Flame. He's. He just collapsed in front of me. I don't know what's happened." He said desperately.

" Right. Ornis get a medic immediately. The rest of you stay here. You're leaving in five minutes." Cyril said before he and Aerilin travelled back to the temple. Cyril stopped before the red dragon and inspected him.

" hmm. What happened exactly?"

" He just fell to the ground. He was swaying a little before he fell." Replied Aerilin. Cyril nodded.

" We'll need to get him checked by an expert. Let's leave this to the doctors." Cyril said and he stood back up. Aerilin suddenly had a thought which made him smile.

" You know I have doctors under my study. You of all people know what I've discovered in my research. Its in my name." Cyril turned to Aerilin with a slight prick of wonder. " Perhaps I could take him into my little cornered of part of the city and have my doctors look after him?" Aerilin continued. Cyril paused for a moment and thought. He new Aerilin was right. After all he was a Prometheus and had the vast knowledge of his fore fathers. But he also new that it would be best for Flame to be kept close to the temple.

" Cyril, Cyril we're back." Yelled Ornis coming though the door with three moles and a dragon. Cyril sighed in relief.

" Right you go on back with the others. You head out as soon as you get there and tell them that Flame will remain here." Said Cyril. Ornis nodded and sprinted back out the doors. Cyril then turned to Aerilin with a smile. " That wont be necessary. I'm sure he will be just as good with us as he would be with you."

Ornis came back to the others and they had worried looks on there faces. Cynder marched up to Ornis and looked him in the eye.

" What's wrong with Flame?"

" Yeah. He can usually take a small belly ache and or …" Continued Winfil.

" Guys. He's going to be alright I think. But I was told to tell you that we have to leave without him-"

" What!" Exclaimed Spyro. " That leaves us a dragon down in strength. That could cost us a battle." Ornis thought of what to say but couldn't think of anything. He just sat and toyed with his talons.

" Cyril did say for us to leave as soon as I got here." Ornis mumbled. Spyro took a deep breath and turned to the gates.

" Then let us be off to Wartalon then." He said. Cynder came up to him and smiled gently.

" I'm sure this time it'll be better." She said.

" For our sake. I hope you're right." Spyro then flared his wings and set of into the air and was followed by the other four dragons. This time they flew at ease knowing Wartalon was only but a days flight away and there wasn't as much of a hurry as last time.

" I've found from out Cyril that two of the artefact's are in Wartalon. The one that resided within Mt Malefor and the one that was in the Rendein desert. It makes it a little easier for us." Spyro said giving a look behind him. Ornis blew out a deep breath of relief.

" The first good peace of news I've heard in a while." After he said it Silence fell upon the group again. But as they flew in a loose formation, they couldn't help but miss the red dragons laughter and witty comments. Winfil chuckled a little.

" What would Flame do about now guys?" Cynder pursed her lips and thought and smiled.

" Probably start some conversation about either our group name or are colours or something like that."

" Then perhaps I should start one. Just to pass the time?"

" Sure." Said Cynder slowing a little to come level with Winfil. Winfil brought a talon to his chin and thought for a moment and smiled.

" So eventually when we get this all over and done with. What are your plans … that goes for all of you listening." Said Winfil raising his voice for the last part. Ornis cackled a little up front and Earn rolled his eyes.

" Well," Cynder started. " I think I'll wait and see where the wind takes us. And by us I mean me and you Spyro!" Cynder yelled at Spyro. She heard the purple dragon snort a small laugh before carrying on with his serious demeanour.

" Pfft. Yeah that's obvious. You guys are like made for each other." Winfil said earning a small frown. " After this is all done. I would like to perfect my earth element and try out for the next earth guardian-"

" Really!" Exclaimed Ornis. Winfil nodded.

" Too right you are Ornis. I thought what with all the experience I'm getting out on these missions and the abilities I'll perfect in battle, I'll be a good candidate for the position."

" I can assure you that you'll be in the lead even if you weren't with us Winfil." Spyro said from the front. Winfil burst into laughter and said while smiling.

" Coming from you. I'll take that as a compliment. But yeah I think it would be great. I love to protect everything within reason and I love the element of earth-"

" Well it _is _in your nature because have you not noticed your scales are _green_." Commented Cynder.

" I know that. I just wanted to get my point across."

" And that you did. MY TURN!" Bellowed Ornis waving his paw in the air frantically.

" Go on then Ornis. Enlighten us."

" Yes!" Ornis whispered punching the air. " Well. When I finish with all this nonsense. I want to pour myself into studying and become like one of the Prometheus'. Y'know how brainy that family were. Made most of the defences around Warfang and Warhorn. And heck, You're getting taught by one Cynder. Aerilin was it? What's he like?" Ornis rattled on. Cynder swooped closer to Ornis.

" Well he's very wise. And like all the stories and myths go about the Prometheus', he is one of the most technically advanced and all knowing dragons I've ever met. I mean he makes Volteer look like no more than a young hatchling. He's shockingly intelligent and its beyond what I could imagine."

" So in other words. He is a proper brain box then." Ornis said. Cynder shook her head.

" No he doesn't go about bragging about it and using big words like Volteer and I'm pretty sure Aerilin would win in a word contest between the two." Cynder saw the looks she got an nodded. " I know right. But as I was saying, he doesn't show that he's that intelligent. You only see like little bursts of it when he's either at work or in my case teaching me. You know id say he knows more about the element of ice better than Cyril because of all the studying he does on it."

" Wait but Cyril's a guardian. Surely he knows all about the element?" Winfil asked. Cynder shook her head.

" Apparently not."

" So I've gone and so has Winfil. What do you want to do Cynder once all this is over?" Asked Ornis. Cynder shook her head.

" Bah, C'mon there must be something?" Winfil pressed with a smile. Cynder chuckled to herself.

" Well aside from what I said earlier. I want to guide our race in the right direction. Like what the guardians do but instead of just one city, I want to guide our whole race to peace and happiness."

" wait isn't that like the purple dragons job. In this case Spyro's."

" I'll do what I have to do. Not what I get told." Spyro said from the front. Cynder gave a smug look at Winfil and Ornis.

" There you go. He'll only do what he has to do so if I take some of the load of him. It'll make it a whole lot easier."

" Yeah … and the fact that you two love-bird are like inseparable." Winfil muttered

" What was that-"

" Nothing." The green dragon quickly said. They all flew for a while and in the quiet of the now darkening sky and the soft wind, Ornis thought of something.

" Does anyone know what Flame wants to be when he grows?" He said. A hint of sadness in his voice to the absence of the red dragon.

Winfil's lips tugged in a warm smile. " Fire guardian." He merely said. All of the dragons new that Flame – Even though he hasn't said anything yet – wants to be the Fire guardian when he grows old enough. But Ornis, Winfil, Flame and even Earn thought it was terribly risky with Flame having to fill Ignitus' shadow.

" I think he'd do a good job. He might be hot headed sometimes but you can't get a dragon with a better heart." Cynder said knowingly.

" Ignitus would be proud to have Flame become Fire guardian." Spyro said. An uncomfortable silence came over the group then. Winfil flew swinging from side to side while Ornis was trying to stay awake. Cynder and Spyro had the front of the group while Earn was at the back. Earn however, was like a flying statue. Just staring ahead and thinking about the possibilities.

" Spyro. Can we just stop here for tonight? I'm tired and I think the rest are as well." Asked Cynder as she pointed to a small point deep in the forest.. Spyro nodded once.

" We'll stay here for tonight." Spyro said before zipping down to the spot. Cynder stayed above looking at the purple dragon. She had so many thoughts going through her about what would become of her love. When she thought about it really, Spyro wasn't showing any signs of love towards here or even signs of real friendship to the others.

" Take it we're staying here for tonight?" Asked Ornis. To which he got a nod from Cynder. Winfil and Ornis both descended into the spot and left both Cynder and Earn hovering above.

" Having troubles?" Earn asked suddenly. Cynder jumped at the unexpected words of the dragon she least expected. She turned to Earn and put on her most forced smile yet.

" Nope. Nothing at all. Just wondering were to get some breakfast tomorrow is all." Earn nodded sceptically before descending as well. Cynder hovered for a minute more before snorting to herself. " He still loves me. I just need to make him see it." She said before lowering to the ground. She found Winfil and Ornis awake chatting away but she saw Spyro and Earn sleeping. Cynder mentally cursed herself for staying in the air too long. But she took another look at Spyro and started to get a little angry. Why would he stop loving her. She has done nothing wrong.

" Stop!" Cynder screamed in her mind. She new what was happening and wouldn't allow herself to be turned into hating the one she loved. She sucked in a breath and laid down next to Spyro. " I love you Spyro. So, so much. Why do I have to choose whether to kill you or let Malefor destroy the world." She whispered to herself. That night, Cynder softly cried herself to sleep

"Hey! I think I see it." Ornis yelled hovering above the group of which had not taken to the sky yet. Spyro gave him a puzzled look.

" Are you sure?"

" Yeah that's Wartalon alright." Ornis replied pointing a talon to the gargantuan city. Spyro jumped into the air and looked in the direction of Ornis' talon. It was true. The group had settled not an hours flight from the city. Across the vast forest and on the horizon was the tips of buildings and more importantly the main wall.

" Well that _was_ faster than last time. Lets get this over with." Said Winfil stretching his wings before taking to the sky. Cynder and Earn followed close behind and before long, the dragons were flying towards the city. All hoping for a good outcome.

Not long from the group of dragons flying as fast as they could, one of the guards on the wall was making his usual patrol. His fine tuned eyes caught a flicker which could only come from the scales of a dragon. The guard turned and spotted the five of them heading straight towards them.

" Dragons!" The guard shouted.

" Looks like we have a welcoming party." Cynder commented, watching the guards all form up on the side of the wall they would fly over.

" Looks like we'll have to land before we see their elders I suppose." Spyro huffed before aiming down. Cynder and the others slowed a little but Spyro held his speed. He didn't slow down and he slammed into the ground causing dust to fly all around him.

" Don't move-" The guard started.

" We're hear to see the elders." Spyro said simply. Not wanting any small talk. The others landed softly behind Spyro and looked at the guards. The leader of which dawned some recognition for once.

" Spyro! Cynder! The saviours. My apologises, please be on your way."

" Thank you. C'mon guys." Cynder said and she started walking. The others followed and soon they found themselves in Wartalon. Everyone was shocked. It was even more grander than Warfang was and the building all around had extensive detail and carvings.

" They don't half know how to build a city huh." Mumbled Ornis while walking.

" Your telling me." Replied Winfil flabbergasted. The dragons walked and like Warfang and Warbrin. Wartalon had its temple situated in the centre of the city.

" We might as well fly there. Walking will take us too long." Spyro said craning his neck to look down the long street and the temple which was in the distance. They agreed and all of them jumped into the air. Spyro got a good look at the differences between Warfang and Wartalon on the way there. Almost every street was paved with stalls and shops but it was confined to one part of the city. The housing of the city was split into three districts, the first being the district round the temple and the stranded of the housing falling the further away. Spyro spotted the entrance to the temple and headed for it.

" Well at least we wont be fighting anyone this time." Said Ornis to himself. The dragons all landed in a small gust of wind as they flared there wings. Spyro looked up at the door and found it to be open and standing there was a single ice dragon. He had a smile upon his face as he bowed to the group.

" Welcome, to our fair city of Wartalon. My name is Durzanith." The ice dragon said. Spyro took a few steps forward and bowed as well.

" Thank you. We are here on orders from the guardians of Warfang to retrieve certain artefact's." Said Spyro plainly.

" In that case, please." Durzanith said stepping aside to let the group in. They entered the Wartalon temple and found it to be an exact replica of the Warfang temple. Or rather the Warfang temple was a replica of the Wartalon temple since it came first. Durzanith lead them down the main corridor and into a large meeting room chamber. It had a dome roof and could easily fit over fifty dragons in it.

" Now I must know. Of what intentions do you wish to do with these artefact's?" Asked Durzanith while taking a seat. His golden eyes looking curiously at the group. Spyro turned to them and Cynder nodded to him. Spyro had a grim expression as he turned back to the ice dragon.

" I'm sorry but can I speak to all of the guardians of Wartalon? They must know this."

Durzanith's smile vanished instantly and was replaced with one of sorrow. " I must say that I am the only remaining guardian of this city. After the war, I was the only one left so I assumed the task alone of guarding the cities dragons. So I am the only dragon you need to speak to." At his words the whole group were taken aback but quickly composed themselves.

" I'm sorry to hear that." Spyro started, with a lack of emotion. " In that case I must ask, what do you know of the outside world just now."

" I know of you and Cynder defeating Malefor and that the planet is now slowly healing from his wounds. Why?"

" Then I have to bring you bad news. Someone else has, as if wanting to keep the destruction and deaths going, replaced him in a way. Her name is Verena and she has taken over Warfang-"

" Warfang's been taken?" Durzanith said astounded.

" Yes. And not only that. Warbrin lies in ruins as we speak and Verena controls an army of wyvern and also a large group of shadow dragons. As of now we are in the capitol cheetah village in Avalar."

" That's terrible." Durzanith whispered in shock.

" And that's not all. We-" Spyro looked at the dragons behind him before speaking. " We think she wants to revive Malefor using the artefact's. And to protect them we need to take them to be guarded by the guardians." Spyro finished putting his foot down. Durzanith sat mulling the purple dragons words over. Looking at the floor and breathing evenly.

" Perhaps you should stay here for now. Regain your energy and rest. You can leave tomorrow with the artefact's." Durzanith suddenly said. Spyro shook his head instantly.

" We can't afford to-"

" Oh come now. One night can't do you much harm. Besides I need my dragon guards to retrieve these artefacts for you which are, just now, at the bottom of the city in the deepest vault."

" One night does sound good." Ornis said walking up to Spyro's side. The purple dragon looked at him before he span round looking at the rest of them.

" What do you say?"

" I think we could maybe spend some time here." Cynder said and Winfil nodded along to her words.

" Whatever. As long as we can be out the next day." Earn said looking the other way. Spyro then turned back to Durzanith and gave him a stern look.

" One night. One night and then we're gone." He said in a final tone.

" Wonderful!" Durzanith chimed clapping his paws together. " I'll have some dragons escort you to some rooms. Please feel free to explore the city-"

" I'll stay here and await you to retrieve the artefact's. I'll do no more." Spyro said. Cynder looked at the purple dragon with a frown but as she did. She noticed something. His scales, they weren't royal purple any more. They had darkened by the slightest amount. Not even noticeable unless you really stared. It was then she new that Ignitus' words were real and it was happening.

" I await you call." Spyro said flatly before walking out the chamber. Cynder stared after him for a moment before a small huff from Ornis broke her out of the trance.

" Damn. What's eating his foot then?"

" I don't know and I don't want to know. I think I'll go check out the city." Winfil replied in more of a muted tone."

" i'm right behind you." Ornis said before they both turned and left the chamber. Earn and Cynder were to turn and head for the door. Durzanith coughed a little.

" Oh and enjoy the city please. It is one of the originals out of the four. Let us make you right at home."

" Thank you." Cynder said as she left. Durzanith watched as the doors to his chamber swung back to their closed position and he chuckled a little.

" Yes. Enjoy our lovely city. Prosper in its glory and above all. Have a great day."


	9. Tales Of Wartalon

**A/N: So here faster than last time. I quite enjoyed writing this chapter :) well things seem to be going good for the our group but I'll let you decide after reading this. As always, hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

><p>Ornis<p>

Ornis walked down a bustling street of Wartalon in the sun. Trying to let the events that brought him here flow out his mind. On either side of him were small stalls selling all kinds of weird and wonderful things.

" You young sir look like a fine kept dragon. Here, keep it up with this, horn and talon sharpener. Only five gold peace's." A dragon yelled at Ornis while he was walking. The wind dragon looked at the small device and shook his head.

" Maybe if I had enough but I don't so, better luck next time." He said cheerfully. Ornis kept on walking and came across some dragons a little younger than his age. They were looking at the top of a building and pointing to a small fox which had in its mouth a small note.

" We can't catch it like this." One of the young red dragons said. " We need to surprise the thing. One of you go up behind it." The red dragon looked and patted a green dragon to which he hastily disappeared into the side street adjacent the house. The fox in a way sniggered at the young dragons and Ornis could see that it new the young earth dragon was going to try and sneak up on it. Ornis watched as the inevitable happened. The green dragon lunged for the fox and the small animal merely hopped up and over the earth dragon as it flew over the edge of the house and landed back where it had started. Ornis couldn't help but chuckle as he approached the young dragons. Being a couple of heads higher than them, he looked down with a smile.

" Can I help you dragons with that?" He asked pointing to the fox. The red dragon out of the trio looked at him while thinking before a smile appeared on his face.

" Names Tenzil. This is Bronk and Whirl." The fire dragon said pointing firstly to the earth dragon then to the other fire dragon.

" Nice to meet you all. Mines is Ornis. Now erm, I saw your attempt to catch the fox but can I ask. What is it you're trying to get?"

" Oh its a letter for an ill friend in hospital. That darn fox took it while we were walking there-"

" Hold on. A fox took that letter from you. A dragon. Seems like a damn brave fox to me. Right let me have a shot at it." Ornis said raising a paw.

" By all means mister." Bronk said with a friendly smile. _This should be easy_. Ornis thought to himself as he pushed himself using his wind element up to the roof. He looked the fox in the eye before crouching down to its level.

" Hey little guy. Listen I need that letter for those dragons down there. Please can you give me it?" Ornis asked as if it would understand. He held out its paw to which the fox seamed to smile at. The orange animal took the letter and started to hand it to Ornis. " That's it. That's it." Said Ornis but as the letter brushed against his paw, the fox yanked it away and jumped back. Ornis glared at it.

" Why you little-" He said as he lunged for it. The fox dodged his first attempt which left the white dragon on the other side of the roof. Ornis jumped for it but the fox again, danced out of the way and Ornis found himself falling over the ledge and ending up where he started, just like Bronk.

" Not very good hmm-" Tenzil said.

" Shush. This just got personal." Ornis growled as he made eye contact with the fox who was sitting on the letter.

" I will get you, you little vermin." Ornis said laying a trap on the edge of the roof. It was starting to get dark now and the stars were coming out. The trap was far enough away that the fox couldn't see it. Ornis placed a small peace of fish on a platform that some rope that would, when moved, rap around the fox and trap it.

" You sure have put some thought into it huh Ornis." Tenzil said admiring the trap.

" Yes now let's go. We can't be near the trap if we want it to work." Ornis replied jumping down to the ground and walking away from the roof. Tenzil and the others followed and watched as the fox looked at the devise with some curiosity. Ornis rubbed his paws together and chuckled a little.

" Come on now. Go for it, you know you want to." He said to himself. The fox moved only a little bit more and only nudged the fish and sure enough. The roped snapped up and wrapped round the fox and held it.

" Yes!" Yelled Bronk punching the air.

" I think my work here is done guys." Ornis said with a smug grin. " Have at him. Go get the letter."

" Thanks mister." Whirl said and the three of them vanished into the side street to get the fox. Ornis chuckled to himself and reminisced about his hatchling years. He was very good at mastering wind when he was young. Hence how he could use it so well now. Ornis smiled to himself again and started to walk. Suddenly he heard a yell coming from the street the three dragons went down.

" What!" Ornis said in shock before sprinting down the street. When he turned a corner he came face to face with two bigger dragons adoring Wartalon guard armour. The red dragon was holding Tenzil and Bronk against the wall while the other green one was holding Whirl.

" You know the law. No trespassing on Elite guard territory. You know what the punishment for that is!" The red dragon yelled.

" No please we didn't know this belonged to them. Please-"

" Say farewell." The dragon repeated. He lifted a claw to strike.

" HEY!" Ornis yelled. Both dragons snapped their heads to the white dragon. " They weren't doing anything. Surly its not punishable by … death?"

" You no nothing! Get out or you will meet the same fate. You have no idea who your dealing with."

" Oh I think I do." Ornis said taking a step forward. " You're both two big bad dragons that prey on the weak younger dragons. Well let me show you what the definition of karma is."

" If you lay one talon on us you will answer to Durzanith and his superiors-"

" Hold on. superiors?"

" Like I said. You know nothing." The bigger of the two said before flexing his claws. The green dragon then smiled back at Whirl and Ornis new what was going to come next. In a flash, Ornis flung his paw up and blew out a burst of wind that knocked both dragons away from the younger three and into the far wall. The large wall creaking as it cracked upon the dragons impact.

" You three, get behind me." Ornis said. The three young dragons bounded behind the bigger wind dragon and looked fearfully back at the two other dragons.

" You'll regret that. You fool!" The smaller one said. He got up as fire started to burn around him and as the dragon breathed, the fire pulsated bigger and smaller. The other one stood up as rocks formed rose around him. Crumpling and reforming into sharp edged tiny splinters. Ornis sized up both of them and new what had to be done.

" NOW!" Yelled the red fire dragon as he released a torrent of fire at Ornis. The wind dragon raised his paw and blasted wind straight into the middle of the torrent. He pushed for a second before slapping his paws together then pushing them apart. The wind Ornis had used imitated his paws and split out, dispersing the fire and stopping it.

" So you have skill. Well wind cannot stop rock so easily." The green earth dragon growled. He sent shards at Ornis and hit the floor with his front paws bringing up a large square of earth before he sent it hurtling towards the wind dragon. Ornis made some coordinated paw movements and wind burst out from each one. Each of the small movements sent wind which deflected the small shards of rock. Ornis then leapt into the air and as if he was gripping something. Span around and sent another column of wind at the large peace of earth. The wind span round it and Ornis, gripped the air and used it, as a chain of wind attached itself to the rock. He then span round and sent the rock spinning back at the earth dragon faster than it had been sent to start. The earth dragon couldn't deflect it and was hit head on by the attack and was sent threw the wall behind him. Ornis landed and quickly turned around.

" Run. We need to get out of here." He said to the three younger dragons. They nodded before sprinting away with Ornis. The wind dragon looked behind him every now and again but found no signs of a pursuit but he didn't stop. Soon after they ran to the other half of the city did they stop.

" Why … why would they kill you for that?" Ornis said while taking deep breaths. Tenzil looked back down the road in which they cam from.

" Its been like that for a while now. Ever since Durzanith took control, all the guards have changed. They take no warning and give no mercy. Its like they've been ordered to kill anyone disobeying the law on sight."

" And it doesn't stop there. There's been sightings of large dragons going in and out of the temple but no one knows who they are." Bronk said. Ornis found himself thinking about Durzanith and rethinking again about him. He turned his full attention to the three and smiled.

" Where do you like. I can take you there before I leave-"

" Don't worry about it. We live right there." Tenzil said pointing to a large house behind them. Ornis recognised it as a band three house.

" Alright then. I'll bid you a goodbye then and be careful next time you try to take a letter to your friend." Ornis said.

" Hey mister. Thanks for protecting us back there. You didn't need to do that."

" And watch as they hurt you? Bah, I couldn't stand by." Said Ornis. " But I really need to leave now so bye."

" By Ornis." The three young dragons chimed before disappearing into the house. Ornis watched them go before he himself turned and started heading back to the temple. He couldn't believe he just had to protect three dragons from getting killed just for walking onto someone's land. It was far to much of a punishment. And then there was the fact that one of the dragons mentioned Durzanith answering to someone above him.

" Guardians don't answer to anyone above them, do they?" Ornis questioned himself as he left for the temple. The night settling in.

* * *

><p>Earn<p>

Earn walked slowly out the main temple doors. Having spent the half day there waiting for the artefact's, he was extremely bored now. It was sunset when he left and the clouds were scattered around. Earn huffed a sigh and headed down the stairs to the streets of Wartalon. Almost as soon as he got to the foot of the stairs he was met with a guard.

" Enjoy our city. Prosper in its glory and above all. Have a great day." The guard said.

" I'll keep that in mind." Earn said nodding his head slowly. Not sure whether or not to take the dragon seriously. He carried on walking and found himself heading towards a lake. Quite a large lake which had on it some boats. The suns rays reflected of the water and gave it a purple hue. Earn scanned the shore lines and had to shake his head. Coming out from the shore was a small slither of land which had a pavement on and it head to a large building that was housed on the lake. Earn let his mouth drop at the building. It looked as if it were made of gold and emerald. Its wide and shallow dome for a rood had light coming out of it.

" Getting a good look are we?" Came a voice. Earn tilted is head to see another earth dragon looking at the building.

" You could say that." Earn said flatly.

" Surprised its still standing. With all the fighting that goes on in there."

" What? What is that building for."

" The stadium for the pro-elemental battles of course. Where have you been for the last two months?"

" Not here." Earn said simply. The green earth dragon nodded to Earn.

" Its the semi final tonight. Going to be packed with dragons."

" Is that so."

" Go take a look then new guy. You'll love it."

" I'll take note buddy. See you some other time." Earn said before walking away from the shore. He thought thought about what to do as he walked, all the while being very aware of the stadium in the corner of his eyes. Earn thought about watching dragons battle each other for fun and having rules to keep them in check. They didn't have that in Warfang. Earn continued walking until finally his curiosity got the better of him. He huffed before turning a little and headed towards the stadium. The earth dragon walked for a small amount of time before he came to the entrance of the large building. Being this close made it look gargantuan compared to when he was looking at it from a distance. Earn walked and found himself standing in a small hall which had some corridors leading of. It was fair to say that Earn was completely lost and it looked easier to just leave.

" Hey! You!" Came an irritated voice from the left. Earn glanced at the direction and found a dragon wearing a golden hat walking towards him. " You can't be in here, The match is soon to begin."

" Don't worry I was-"

" I'll have no excuses!" The dragon said. Earn was losing his patience with the dragon in front of him but thankfully another voice saved him.

" Its alright Jao. He's with me." The voice said. Earn saw a fire dragon come to his side and look at the dragon wearing the hat.

" Fine. But get him out of here Louden!" Exclaimed Jao. Louden nodded and put a paw on Earn's shoulder, pulling him down one of the corridors. They walked for a moment before they came to a room where some equipment was and a large net.

" Thanks." Earn said. Louden turned with a smile.

" Its nothing buddy. Glad to have you here. So are you watching the game?" Louden asked. Earn then got a good look at the dragon. He was wearing padding all over his body. Pads covered his elbows to his underbelly and chest. He had red marks over the collar of the suit.

" Uh, yeah. I guess."

" Great uh, what's your name?

" Its Earn."

" Well Earn since you're here. Lets see what you got."

" I'm sorry what?" Earn asked. Louden chuckled and turned him around to look at the net. Earn noticed targets on it.

" Use your earth element and lets see your hardest hit. Here, use these." Louden said. Earn saw his talon pointing to a large stack of earth like coins. The were completely green and they were completely smooth. All of them being symmetrical. Earn moved slowly as he started to use his element.

" So I just take them and hit the target." Earn muttered as he swung both paws in a punching motion. Two coins of earth zoomed out of the stack and swirled into the net hitting the bullseye first time. Earn grinned while turning to Louden.

" Beginners luck. Lets see you do it again."

" Fine by me." Said Earn with a chuckle. This time however he punched his arms five times and five coins of earth swirled into the net, again hitting the bullseye. Earn laughed at Louden's face. If only he new the amount of experience Earn had with his element in battle.

" So you're good then I'll give you that-"

" Hey Louden. Wai- Who's this." Came an unsure voice. Both dragons turned and saw an ice dragon walking into the room. Earn noticed he was wearing the exam same suit as Louden except it had blue markings on it.

" Hello Meldann. this is Earn. I was just witnessing how awesome he is at his earth element. Seven bullseye's and they were his first try. Didn't miss one."

" So you're good then." Meldann said raising a sceptical scaly eyebrow. Earn nodded in return saying nothing. Meldann shrugged. " Huh, fair enough then. Louden, we need to be ready in five. Teral should be here soon."

" Sure, I'm ready now anyway." Louden replied. Earn watched and then Meldann turned to him.

" hey, why don't you come see the match. See what a real elemental can do? Hmm?"

Earn thought for a moment and looked at Meldann. A tug of a smile appearing on his face for the first time since Star died. " Yeah. Where do I go?"

" Yes!" Louden yelled. " Well you have to go back out that door, to the right and up the far stairs. When you come to the top you turn right and then its the first left." Earn nodded at Louden taking everything in. Earn was about to say something but a dragon wearing the same suit but with green colours burst through the door with a large frown.

" Glad to see you idiots are ready. Perhaps we could actually win without you two dragging me down with you!" Exclaimed the dragon Earn took to be Teral.

" Be quite Teral." Sighed Meldann.

" Or I'll make you be quite." Louden said staring Teral down. Teral imediantly walked up to Louden and was staring at him in the eye.

" Make a move." Teral said low and deadly. Louden didn't move but kept his eyes locked with Teral's. Not daring to be the first to break contact.

" C'mon guys, break it up. We have a semi-final in half an hour and you two look like you're about to kill each other-"

" I wouldn't put it past me." Louden grunted. Teral flinched but narrowed his eyes even more. Louden prepared for the worst but it didn't come.

" Y'know what. I quit. This is absolutely ridiculous, see if I care." Teral said turning around and storming out the the room. Earn watched without moving at the small drama before him. He internally chuckled at how they were acting before the game.

" Great! Just great!" Yelled Meldann glaring at Louden. The red dragon merely huffed in reply.

" He had it coming. If you weren't going to annoy him then I was." Growled Louden. Meldann picked up his helmet and threw it into the net as hard as he could.

" Now we don't have a complete team you numskull!"

" Ah that's were you're wrong." Replied Louden with a sneaky grin. Meldann pressed his lips together and waited for an answer. Louden chuckled. " Look at out scales. What colour do we not have-"

" I know that just get on with it." Snapped Meldann. Louden raised a talon and pointed at the only other dragon in the room. Meldann whipped his head round to Earn, realization dawning upon him. Followed by anger.

" You expect him to play. He isn't even trained in the sport Louden!" Meldann yelled.

" Uh guys-" Earn tried.

" Oh yeah? Well I'll give him a crash course right here."

" Bah, you can't teach a hatchling."

" Guys!"

" WHAT!" Both dragons yelled at Earn. Earn took the moments silence as a gift and rolled his eyes.

" I know how to use my element perfectly. All I need to know are the rules." He said calmly. Louden grinned at Meldann. Meldann huffed and walked forward.

" Fine. Lets give you a run down." The blue dragon then pulled out a map from a near by shelf and put it down in front of Earn. It held on it a square shaped arena which had two colours on it. The middle was red and each end was blue. There were small green circles everywhere on it. There was one large line down the middle splitting the sides followed by another one in each half. " Right Earn. What happens is each of us stand here on this side. We'll have a team come up against us on the other side and our goal is to knock them off to win the game. If we don't get that far then we need to have the most points by knocking them back a sector. Here's what you need to focus on. D'you see these circles?"

" Yeah." Earn said slowly.

" Well their filled with earth coins exactly like the ones there. You only have to focus on using them to hit any of the opposing team but you'll have to dodge earth, fire and ice. And that's basically pro-elemental battling for you."

" Not that hard aint it?" Louden said patting him on the shoulder.

" Yeah. Seams easy." Earn said with a grin.

" dragoness's and dragons alike. Enjoy our lovely city. Prosper in its glory and above all. Have a great day! Welcome to the semi-final of the seventy fourth pro-elemental battle!" The announcer yelled. Lights beamed up onto the raised platform of the arena. Surrounding the arena was water and at corners of the stands were small platforms. Dragons filled the raised stands that stood above the arena, yelling and getting ready for a good fight. " You have your seats. So let me give you what you want. We have the news team on the block. Coming in at a number five rating on the scale. We have the sky-tigers!" The announcer yelled. Three dragons flew onto the right side of the arena with their full protection suits on. They were very calm and collected. The announcer dragon then raised a hand for calm. " And next we have surprisingly another rookie team. Recently having a change of players in the group, give it up for the ice-breakers!" Earn, Louden and Meldann all flew in and landed on the left side of the arena. Earn was a bit taken aback at the site but held his cool. " Now I want a nice match. From you both. Take your positions." Both groups stood at either side with earth being on the right, fire on the left and water in the middle.

" Oh looks like its gonna be a good one tonight guys." The commentator started. " We have the Sky-tigers versus the ice-breakers. Oh and it seams the ice-breakers have a change in their line up today. Earn his name is called has replaced Teral as the earth element in the group. I wonder what he can do that was better than Teral?"

" You have no idea." Earn muttered before a large bell clanged sounding the beginning. Earn immediately jumped sideways and sent three earth coins at the three opponents. One hit the fire dragon but the earth and ice both dodged and sent their elements towards Earn. Louden quickly blasted fire across the path of the attacks stopping the coins and the water, followed quickly by a quick succession of ice and water shots from Meldann at the others. One hit the their earth dragon but their fire dragon was up and launching a barrage of fire bullets at Earn and Louden.

" Oh and Earn narrowly dodges two fire bullets. Runden quickly senses the moment and fires a stream of water but its quickly cut of by Louden blasting fire in its path. Earn jumps into the air. Toldal reacts with three coins but Earn dodges two and fires the other one back. Louden jumps and enhances the speed of the coin with fire but OH! Runden grabs Toldal out the way just in the nick of time. Oh folks the ice-breakers are out to win tonight."

Meldann shot a stream of water which whipped their fire dragon sideways and into the earth dragon. Earn grinned and spun round kicking the ground brining up two coins before spinning round again and kicking them both at the earth and fire dragon. Louden and Meldann saw this and kept their ice dragon busy by launching a blast of fire and water at him. The fire dragon saw the coins coming and leapt out the way, one coin scuffing his wing as he dodged it but unfortunately for the earth dragon, he was hit square in the chest and sent back behind the line separating the red and blue zones. A different bell sounded throughout the stadium.

" Oh and Toldal gets knocked to the blue sector. Folks he's treading on thin ice now and I think its about to be broken by non other than the ice-breakers. Earn jumps into the air launching two earth coins at Runden but Skyline blocks with a quick blast of water knocking them back to the ice-breakers. Louden jumps over the stream and unleashes a blast of strong fire at Runden. Runden dodges but gets his by Meldann's water bullet. The sky-tigers are looking like its inevitable for them not to win tonight oh but wait! Runden jumps into the air as Toldal fires coins at all three of the ice-breakers. Skyline fires ice at them all and Runden sends a volley of fire balls at only Meldann. Earn dodges the coins but gets grazed by the ice shards. Louden also dodges but, OH! Seams the sky-tigers have got one back on the ice-breakers and have sent Meldann back to the ice-breakers blue sector."

Earn watched as Meldann was knocked back a sector followed by the booming bell before turning round and sending six coins at all the sky-tigers. Two for each dragon. Skyline jumped and span sideways in the air to dodge them while Runden blasted fire knocking them off course. But he didn't know that he had inadvertently knocked one into the course of Toldal so when he dodged both of Earn's coins, the last one hit him square in the face knocking off his helmet and sending him spiralling of the arena and into the waters bellow.

" Oh! And there goes Toldal. That looked painful. The sky-tigers are down to two dragons and there seams to be no let up in persistence from the ice-breakers. Earn swipes a sideways coin barrage while Meldann launches a stream of water at Runden. No but wait OH! And there goes Skyline. Seams like Louden just wanted to get his opposite element off the arena. Well folks it seams as though that's this game for tonight."

Earn watched as Runden looked around for his team mates but found nothing.

" Ha, got ya." Earn said. He gave a sidewards glance to Louden who nodded. Earn then lifted two coins and started spinning them before sending them both at Runden. Louden took a deep breath before sending the largest blast of fire yet at the opposing fire dragon. Runden dodged one coin but was hit by the other and knocked back to the blue sector. The booming bell signalled the sector breach but it signalled again when Louden's stream of fire smacked Runden sending him spinning off the end of the arena.

" Oh! And that's it. The ice-breakers are victorious. They win." The commentator said.

" YES! WE WON!" Yelled Louden taking of his helmet and throwing it into the air. The announcer then flew onto the arena and held up a hand.

" The ice-breakers are this semi-final's winner and will go threw to face the defending champions the Shadow-dragons." After he said it, three dragons appeared on the stage. They were completely covered in dark energy and their eyes glowed a brilliant white light. Earn recognised them immediately and took a step forward but they vanished.

" What the?" Earn asked himself before being scooped up by Louden and Meldann and taken back to the changing rooms, chanting the words champion on the way.

" Damn Earn. I never new you were that good. You practically took them out yourself except from Runden. We both took him out." Louden said. Meldann was up in the superiors box signing the contract for the final.

" Oh that's only using coins. You should see what i'm like when I have all my earth around me." Replied Earn.

" Id love that. I'll be back in a second. Just going to get Meldann." Chirped Louden before he vanished threw the door. Earn was about to follow but stopped upon remembering why he was here and what he was meant to do. That and the fact that they were leaving tomorrow. Earn sighed and turned to the bench. He took of his helmet and placed it on it.

" I'm sorry." Was all he said before he jumped out he nearest open window, heading to the back to the temple.

" Hey Earn i'm back-" started Louden but he stopped when he looked at the empty room. He had a small peace of cake in his left paw which fell off as he walked up and picked the helmet up. He stared at it for a moment before putting it back down with a sad smile.

* * *

><p>Spyro<p>

Spyro sat in his room with closed eyes. Waiting. He could sense everydragon in the temple and the dragons just around the perimeter. Spyro couldn't help but think to himself that he could sense the presence of the same darkness the shadow dragons had when he was close to them. He growled slightly as his scales turned to a dark black and dark energy started to flow off his body. This time however there was blue in the lightening as well as the purple.

" I'm coming." An eerie voice whispered. Spyro snapped open his eyes, the dark energy and the lightening disappearing as he fell backwards some steps. He looked about frantically but found no one in the room but himself. The only thing her heard as the night seamed to come in at double pace was a faint laugh.


	10. Betrayal

**A/N: So I feel this was not as good as it could have been. But i'll let you decide. I'm deciding to put in allot more twists and turns. You'll find out once you read this chapter. Also I think I might be able to tie this story into my other story "Redemption" If you like that idea tell me because I'm not 100% sure I should do that or make it a stand alone. Its up to you :)**

**As always, hope you enjoy this chapter :D**

**P.S Internet cookie to who can guess who the last dragon is ;D**

* * *

><p>Aerilin walked through the Cheetah village of Avalar in the dead of night. Not making a sound as he did so. The ice dragon hid himself with a long black cloak which whipped in the air with his fast walk. His dark ice blue eyes taking in his surrounding as he walked. To his delight, no one was awake. Aerilin walked out the village and immediately took flight. Clouds blocked all light so he could not be seen against the black sky. Aerilin pushed his wings and suddenly burst into speed and disappeared into the distance. Aerilin flew for a moment at this speed before diving down to the ground and coming to a halt, his cloak coming to fall around him. The ice dragon had stopped in front of a large hill that towered into the sky. Directly in front of him at its base lay a small rectangular entrance with two large rock pillars holding it open. Aerilin smiled as he walked in and was consumed by darkness. Aerilin held up a hand and out from it shot blindingly blue ice which came to a hover over the ice dragon. The block of ice gave out a soft dull blue light which allowed Aerilin to see quite well. He walked down the entrance which was taking him deeper into the earth as it started to angle downwards. All around him the tunnel had patterns and symbols engraved into the walls. Pictograph's of dragons pointing to one large dragon who was looking to the sky. Aerilin walked before he came to a large black door. Upon the door was symbols to which no dragon would recognise but Aerilin stared at it like he new what they meant. He chuckled and saw some failed attempts to open the door in the form of some scratch marks.<p>

" Now then. Time to open you." He whispered before putting a paw into his cloak and bringing back out a small sphere. He lifted it and suddenly a thin red light glistened around its diameter. The sphere then flashed out his paw and into the doors centre. The door then rumbled before opening slowly. He grinned at his new technology.

" Perfect." Aerilin said to himself before walking forward. He entered a large room, large enough to say it made the hill hollow. Steam encased the floor and inside the room were four large columns stretching the full height from top to bottom. Aerilin paid no attention to the columns as he walked. Each column had hundreds of little stone cylinders stacked around them. The large blue block of ice above Aerilin evaporated under his command and the small sphere that opened the door flew past the ice dragon and flew to another door. This door however was smaller than the first one and on either side, statues of dragons in full armour stood. The sphere's thin red light turned to that of a green as it placed itself into the door where it stopped. Aerilin placed his paw on the sphere which was half way embedded in the door and uttered the name.

" Prometheus." The door suddenly trembled and a splitting green light came from the middle as they parted. The ice dragons then stepped through the door and came to another room. This room was the same as the first as it had the carvings and designs etched into the walls and more dragons looking at one large one. Exactly the same as the pictures in the first room. The sphere which was still hovering at the threshold of the door zoomed into the new room and placed itself in a circular slot on the roof. Once firmly placed in it. The light turned from green to white and it shot out across the roof which turned out to have reflective glass all across it which took the light and made it grow.

" Candles and flames are just so irrelevant when you have the technology to produce _real_ light." Aerilin muttered looking up at the white ceiling. He stood for a moment before taking off his cloak and walking to a near by shelf. In it he took a small cylinder which had the same shape as the many hundreds from the first room. Aerilin took it to a small desk in the centre of the room and placed it delicately onto the surface.

" There you are." He whispered as he slowly undid the top of the cylinder. Out from it he pulled a green like pouch full of translucent liquid. He grinned as he placed in the desk and watched it. Small sparkles came from the liquid and Aerilin could see upon closer inspection, thousands of minuscule things moving in the same way smoke would.

" So beautiful." He said. " You will be the key to my victory." Aerilin continued to look at the liquid before hearing movement coming from the door. He turned round to see Ember standing in the doorway. She had a look of fear on her and was slowly taking in her surroundings. " Ember! So nice of you to come as I asked."

" I wouldn't think otherwise Aerilin." She said curtly. Aerilin nodded.

" Come here. Look at this." He said. Ember slowly came up and gazed at the liquid with wonder. She could see all the tiny things inside moving.

" What is it?"

Aerilin chuckled darkly. " Among my talents I am very good at deduction. If i'm right I can work on how to stop oncoming threats. Coupled with my magical studies of convexity, I can look but a mere fraction into what the future may hold-"

" But that doesn't answer my question?"

" I'm getting there Ember. Now in my studies I have come across many things that are said to happen. I know of the dragons that work against us. I know of the dragons that could possibly work against us and I know exactly how to fight them." Aerilin turned to face Ember fully. " I know you where with Verena for a small amount of time. That you were with her for the soul purpose of killing Cynder. Am I correct in saying this isn't a mere jealousy matter over Spyro?"

Ember chuckled a little. " I don't really care for that dragon any more. All I want is for the realms to be safe and I know that she still has her other self within her. We're not safe until we're free of her."

" Good." Aerilin said nodding. " Well you know Verena does not only work to kill Cynder but indeed to conquer the world."

" I thought she wasn't telling me everything." Ember cursed.

" Well she has many accomplices in her army. Spanning the whole of the dragon realms. But even with all her might and strength, it is not her that I fear."

" How? She has an army that outnumbers the population of Warfang when it was at its fullest. How could you-"

" Allow me to explain. You know I am highly advanced in my technologies. Well one creation I've made allows me to pear into places I alone cannot venture. And I have heard many of things being said but none shakes me more than one. I have come to gain the knowledge that Verena is nothing compared to the evil we might have to face. Verena seeks to release Malefor but-" Aerilin had to hold up a paw to stop Ember from talking. " - Malefor is but a pawn in the game of something much bigger. You see Spyro is slowly becoming darker and darker, soon to be consumed by it. The one you hate so much is the one responsible for this. Cynder. You see Verena wants Malefor out to help conquer the realms. You remember Oryps don't you?" Ember nodded slowly with a shudder. " Well he is slowly finding ways out of Spyro and is slowly taking full control over Spyro. Cynder was told that when you faced Oryps, he was only in control of half of Spyro's soul and therefore not at full power. But this time he will have full power."

" then how do we stop him?"

" Now you see that is where it gets tricky. The only way to stop Oryps is with purple crystals and the only place to get them is the crystal holding Malefor. And if we use those crystals we release Malefor. I am not sure what happens from there on but what I am certain of is that I will be prepared."

" So we don't have to worry about Verena and all her army but we have to worry about what happens if Malefor is released and if Oryps comes bag?"

" Correct. Which brings me to this." Said Aerilin holding the liquid filled pouch up. " Now you have to understand Ember that this, as of now is the most deadliest thing on the planet. Second only to a dark purple dragon. When we use this we need to use it with the utmost of care and control. Lose are grip of this and the planet is dead. Everything. Dead."

" You have thousands of those things out there!" Ember exclaimed.

" Which is why it has been a secret for a long long time. My ancestors created the first vile and tested it. They called it discordinization. Needless to say that was the reason they were never heard from again. Further down my ancestral line to that of Goliath and Leonis, they harnessed the creation and learned to control it. After successfully testing it, they replicated it to massive proportions. So that if the planet should ever fall to darkness then this should be released as the dragons last hope. Killing all opposing forces if used correctly. But there was a catch. You see the way discordinization works is that all these small little black things that make the smoke like appearance are actually small strands of mixed DNA and convexity. Inject this into the bloodstream and it grants the bearer with the powers of convexity. That is why you see the small sparkles of purple. But the catch was if this was to come into contact with a dragon already in touch with convexity then it creates life at the same time as destroying it. It would kill the dragon with convexity but at the same time create new life out of the dragon it kills. I know its confusing but it'll make sense. So Goliath and Leonis found a way to control it. Using convexity enhanced modules, they gave it one more strand of type B convexity. That means if this escapes and becomes airborne. It kills and destroys everything leading it to eventually killing itself."

" So its a virus then." Ember said confused. Aerilin shook his head.

" No. Its a biological weapon. The one thing we cannot get wrong is letting it out this container and letting get airborne."

" I'll keep that in mind."

" That's why you're in a cave that's centuries old. My ancestors built this cave and only Prometheus' can open the doors. They made it so deep that if it were to escape, crystals would pick up on the specific convexity molecules discordinization holds and lock down the whole cavern. Letting it kill everything inside but nothing outside." Aerilin then slowly took the pouch and placed it back into the rock cylinder before placing it into the shelf.

" So what are we going to use discordinization for?"

" We'll enhance every dragon out there in the army with convexity." Aerilin then put his paw up and the sphere creating the light danced out the roof and floated down into the paws of Aerilin. Ember watched with interest at the orb. Never before seeing something float like it had done. The ice dragon looked at her for a moment before lifting an arm and beckoning to the door.

" Shall we?"

" Oh … yes sorry." Said Ember before turning round and starting for the entrance. She walked past the columns and shivered at how much discordinization was in them. Both dragons left the cavern entering the dark cold air before taking flight back to the village

The sun clambered over the horizon and graced the city of Wartalon with its warmth. Most dragons in the city itself were still asleep or rising with the sun. Earn, Ornis, Winfil and Cynder were all starting to open their eyes slowly and shake the night off. Cynder yawned and hoped down off her bed and stretched out the night.

" That's better." She said to herself as she strode out the room. Walking out she came back into a corridor which had several doors on it. The other doors where that of her friends rooms. She shook her head with a smile and carried on down the corridor until she walked through and came into the main hall. There she found Durzanith sitting in his chair and to her surprise, Spyro. Spyro stood in front of Durzanith staring at him. Cynder walked a little forward to listen.

" You said it would be here." Spyro said calmly. Cynder could hear clearly however, the anger beneath his voice. Durzanith shrugged.

" I did say that but unfortunately it isn't here. You'll-"

" You told me it would be here. Now where is it?"

" Well I am regrettably sorry to inform you that I do not know. My dragons were sent to retrieve it but have not returned. I cannot contact them until they return."

" What do you mean have not returned?" Cynder asked walking up to Spyro's side.

" The artefact isn't here. Durzanith says his dragons haven't returned and he doesn't know why but I think otherwise." Spyro whispered quickly to Cynder. The black dragon nodded and peered at Durzanith.

" So it isn't here. Is there a particular reason as to why?"

" I don't have one just now. I cannot see or hear through solid ground miss Cynder." He patted the ground.

" Don't patronise me Durzanith, I know the obvious-"

" Then you will know that I have no way of finding out why my dragons aren't here yet." Durzanith said raising an eyebrow. Cynder growled feeling belittled by Durzanith. Spyro stood then and turned to Cynder.

" I'm going to find them." He said with enough force even Cynder didn't dare ask otherwise. Spyro walked out and found the entrance the guards used. Spyro jumped a little before slamming his paw into the ground, opening the entrance enough for him to get into. " I'll be back soon." He said before walking forward. Cynder quickly put a paw in front of him and frowned.

" Not alone you're not." She said before jumping into the whole first. Spyro watched and shook his head a little before glancing back at Durzanith.

" If I find its not there and you've tricked us," Spyro didn't have to finish the sentence to know it made its mark on the larger dragon. The purple dragon smiled darkly before jumping into the hole too. Once in, darkness swallowed them.

" Spyro a little light please?" Asked Cynder. She heard a chuckled before the tunnel was bathed in a pale blue light coming from some ice. Cynder smiled, " Thank you. Now how far do you think this leads?"

" I don't know. Give me a moment." Spyro said. He closed his eyes and tapped the ground a few times before his eyes snapped open. " Not far, a small walk will do it."

" Let's go then, I want to go home already." Cynder huffed before both dragons started walking at a high pace down the tunnel. There was hardly any conversation between them both on the way and the only words exchanged were 'how do you think we'll win' and 'are you tired'. Most of which Cynder brushed off and forgot about, trying to keep her head in the game. After a short period of walking Spyro sighed.

" We're directly under the city. And the tunnel comes to a large room – no two large rooms." He said.

" How can you know all this?" Cynder asked sceptically.

Spyro let one laugh out. " I see using convexity and using the vibrations in the earth. Its quite useful. I'm sure you would like it."

" I'm sure I would but I don't have that ability and anyway, we're here now." Barked Cynder coming to a large door. Cynder was about to walk forward when Spyro put out an arm.

" Hold on … something isn't right." Spyro looked at the door. Half of it was closed and the other half was nearly fully open. Like somedragon was trying to escape but failed. Scratch marks lined the doors middle edges making it have a jagged appearance. Cynder nodded and carefully walked forward. She walked through the gap in the door and her mouth fell at what she saw.

" I thought I felt something weird." Announced Spyro as they entered a gargantuan room. Both dragons walked forward and saw nothing. Only one column holding the rooms roof up. The only things in the room that pointed to life were the scrapes and scorch marks all over it. Cynder walked round the column and found another door which was open.

" Spyro here." She called. Spyro came and saw the door and frowned before walking into the new room. Inside Spyro found some armour and a small opened stone cylinder. Cynder walked in and looked everywhere.

" Where are they" Growled Spyro. The purple dragon growled and hit the far wall making the room tremble. Cynder shook her head and started looking around. Spyro couldn't think straight. The dragons that came down here couldn't have gotten out any other way. The only entrance was the way they came and there was no sign dragons came out that way. Spyro was utterly stumped and couldn't think of where they went. Could Durzanith had let them out during the night. Spyro though that was impossible because he was up most of the time keeping his senses open.

" Spyro." Cynder called shakily. Spyro ignored her deep in though as he picked up the stone cylinder and started to read what was on it. He could make out part the word discor but the rest of the word was brushed off.

" Spyro!" Cynder said louder but still shakily.

" What!"

" What was the date and names of the dragons that came down here?"

" Erm they were all aged thirty and I only remember one being called Janson. Why?"

" Did one have the name Gilled?"

Spyro huffed a snort. " Yeah that was one but how does-"

" Spyro." Cynder said turning the armour head peace she had in her paws to face Spyro. The purple dragon read the name Gilled on it.

" No that can't be right!" He exclaimed dropping the stone cylinder and picking up another peace of armour and reading the name Janson on it. " They only left a little over ten hours ago, What in the name of ancestors happened!" Cynder took another look at the room with new eyes. All the armour was on the floor and the dragons were nowhere to be found. Cynder found her eyes being dragged back to the cylinder.

" Spyro do you know what that is?"

" No the names been scrapped off. It stops after discor."

" Right." Cynder said calmly. She looked around and took note of the amount of dust on the floor and in some corners, when a small thought wriggled its way into her head. " Spyro can you do a convexity scan for all life in the room?"

" Don't know what that will accomplish but sure." Said the purple dragon before holding up his paw and a small beam of purple light flooded the room. Before Cynder even saw the purple light, Spyro snapped his arm back to his side with a growl and had a dark look on his face.

" What!" Exclaimed Cynder.

" Apparently we're surrounded but what i'm finding is that the life force is nearly null-"

" Spyro?" Cynder said. Spyro looked at Cynder and followed her eyes to the dust on the ground. There was a small moment of eerie silence before Spyro burst out laughing.

" I doubt that Cynder. That's like-"

" Scan it!" Cynder snapped glaring at Spyro.

Spyro stopped laughing and his face turned to that which held no expression as he scanned a small tuft of dust. But that soon changed as he yelped dropping the dust. His eyes having wonder and nervousness in them. " Its … its them." He said calmly. His voice didn't have a shocked or fearful tone in it, more like a curiosity tone to it. Cynder didn't like the way Spyro was taking it and wanted out the caves.

" We're leaving." Cynder announced kicking the small stone cylinder as she turned out the door. Spyro looked at the room and very slowly, a smirk appeared before leaving.

" Whoever done this must have been strong. I think I have quite the challenge." He said to himself before walking. Cynder let her mind work overtime as she walked. Trying desperately to put things together. She new that the dragons were dead and there was nothing in there that could have killed them. No dragons, no other life in there at all that could do that. The black dragoness crushed her eyes closed thinking before a bulb flashed. The stone cylinder. When Cynder thought about it, the cylinder was the only thing that looked foreign. Its design and carvings were all different from the city above.

" Spyro we need to move now!" She exclaimed before taking flight in the small tunnel.

" Allow me." Spyro said flying past her and putting his arms out. Suddenly he shot upwards and through the rock. Using his earth element to carve out a new tunnel as they flew. Not long after, Spyro gave one last push and broke threw the surface and they were encased in bright light. Cynder snapped her eyes closed and quickly adjusted herself to the light before finding her bearings. They had come out at the other side of the city in they're small detour. Spyro turned his gaze to the temple. An ever growing anger coming from his soul.

" We're going to find out what happened down there." He whispered darkly. His scales turned into there dark counterpart and dark energy began floating around the purple dragon. His eyes began to lighten to the bright white Cynder always feared looking at. " Come on!" Spyro said in a warped voice which Cynder new never usually happens when he uses his dark powers. Spyro put an arm on her shoulder and both of the dragons jumped straight into the main hall directly in front of Durzanith. Cynder took notice of the cracked ground around where they landed. Durzanith had an amused look on his face.

" Back so soon." He said. Spyro growled.

" What happened down there?"

" Oh whatever do you mean?"

" Your dragons are dead." Said Cynder firmly. Durzanith's face dropped a little.

" That is unfortunate indeed-"

" and further more there was no artefact." Cynder continued.

" So where is it!" Spyro growled from where he stood. Durzanith's normally happy and well poised demeanour vanished as he rose to his full height. He strode down the stairs and stood a little distance from both dragons.

" You mean this?" Durzanith said quietly bringing out a glowing emblem. It had markings upon it and Cynder could see it was five dragons pointing to one large dragon. " I didn't tell you what's happened to the city have I?"

" Durzanith you had it the whole time!" Cynder yelled. Durzanith smiled.

" That I did Cynder. Perhaps I should enlighten you … Darksis!" Shouted Durzanith. Spyro and Cynder jumped as seven shadow dragons appeared around them and their leader, Darksis appearing in front of Durzanith. " You didn't stop and wonder at how this city is still thriving while the others fall. You didn't stop to think how no dragon has come to severe harm in this city?"

" Durzanith what are you doing? Do you know who -"

" Oh I know Cynder. But I just thought it would be better to join the winning team instead of dying." Replied Durzanith.

" You are half correct." Darksis suddenly said turning to Durzanith with a smile. " You have played your part well and my mistress has no further need for you." Darksis suddenly grabbed Durzanith by the neck and threw him straight threw the throne. Darksis then jumped to Durzanith's side before picking him up and sending him into another wall. The larger dragon coughing up a small splutter of blood as his bones cracked upon impact. Darksis then appeared in front of him with a disgusted look. " I'm glad I'm getting rid of you. Verena never really liked having you in charge of her only other city. Say farewell."

" She promised me." Durzanith yelped.

Darksis raised an eyebrow. " A place in the aftermath. You? No she only used you. And now you've done what was asked for so its end of the line." The shadow dragon said before bringing up a claw and slamming it through Durzanith. His body going limp and falling still. Cynder watched as the shadow dragon walked casually back letting the blood drip of his talons. " That's better. We need someone in charge who can actually lead the city properly."

" Either way Darksis. We're getting that artefact." Spyro growled. By this time the others had entered the room hearing the commotion but were stopped by the other shadow dragons.

" You have no idea. You have no idea what i'm going to do to you." Spyro said as his voice began to become warped again. His scaled darkened further and the electricity snapping around him took on a blue and purple haze. " I will not let you win this time." Spyro growled before whipping forward with incredible speed and punching Darksis square in the face sending him up and out the far wall. Spyro then turned and blasted a mix of wind and convexity at the other shadow dragon making them fly into the walls.

" Spyro come on lets go." Ornis yelled grabbing the artefact and taking to the air.

" You're not getting away that easily." Darksis said landing hard back in the main chamber. Spyro turned around to his friends with an angry face and said. " Leave now. This is my fight." Winfil and Earn both took into the air following Ornis and going through the roof but Cynder stayed where she was. " Cynder that means you too. I'm going to kill all of them and I don't want you here-"

" That's not the dragon I know." Cynder said having had enough of Spyro's slow decent into what she could only think of as Oryps. " The Spyro I know would always want life to stay in tact-"

" Exactly. I'm doing that by killing these half dragons. Now leave!" Spyro yelled at Cynder. Cynder was about to say something more before Spyro physically took her and threw her through the roof up to where Ornis and the others hovered. Cynder shot her wings open for a moment. The last ounce of love she had for the purple dragon slowly sinking away as she caught up with herself. She closed her eyes and let her face fall.

" Let's go."

" And leave Spyro?" Winfil asked.

Cynder glared at the green dragon before speaking. " Yes. He can deal with himself."

" I'm sorry Cynder but no one gets left behind." Ornis said. " While that dragon might be acting strange, we still have to be behind him when we fight." Cynder looked at the white wind dragon and felt a small spark of gratefulness that another dragon besides her had noticed a change in Spyro.

" Thank you."

" Remember that pact you guys made. Until the end right?" Earn said. Winfil smiled at him and looked down at the temple.

" Until the end." The green dragon dived followed by the others heading for Spyro.

Back down in the chamber Spyro was surrounded. Darksis standing directly in front of him while his other shadow dragons watched ready to strike.

" Do your worst. You cannot harm me." Spyro hissed. Darksis laughed.

" Oh I think I can. Oh and did I tell you we retrieved three more artefacts while you were here?

Spyro flinched a little. " I'll still defeat you.

" Alright then. Have it your way." Darksis said before motioning with a talon. One of the shadow dragons lunged for Spyro but the purple dragon spun round at the same time as turning his paw into a large ice spear. Spyro sent it straight threw the shadow dragon killing it instantly before using wind to send it flying back. Spyro turned back to Darksis who just so happened to lose his smile.

" Try again."

" That's it-" Darksis started but was cut off when four dragons landed around Spyro facing outwards.

" I thought I told you to leave." Spyro growled. Cynder physically stopped him talking by putting a hand on his maw and smiling.

" Until the end. Remember? Fight for each other? Take each step at each others side." Cynder said. The pact going through her mind. She glanced back at Winfil who nodded. The black dragoness turned back to Spyro and saw his scales lighten and a smile form on his face. That friendly smile she missed so much. This was the Spyro she new.

" Until the end." Spyro echoed before turning. " Fight for each other." He said as he took a step towards Darksis. " Good luck winning against us Darksis." Spyro said before he lunged. Darksis growled and flung up his arm to block a punch from Spyro. The shock wave burst from both dragons as ones paw clashed with the others arm. All the others jumped for the other shadow dragons. Bolts of lightening and blasts of wind spun around the room freely, taking chunks out the room itself. Winfil and Earn both sent columns, spears and all sorts of rocks at the shadows and each one went a miss. Cynder had three shadows attacking her but she blocked each attack with her own shadow powers and blasted them back with wind and poison. The poison only seamed to go straight through them and land on the ground, hissing on contact. Cynder pushed harder with her wind element but saw the shinning blue of the artefact brushing past the limp form of Durzanith.

" Ornis there!" She yelled at the wind dragon. Ornis snapped his head to where she motioned and saw the artefact.

" You're not getting away this time." Ornis yelled diving for it. But before he got anywhere near the shinning cup, a shadow dragon appeared next to it with a smile before disappearing again. Ornis slammed into the ground with a loud crunch. " Cynder!" He yelled.

Cynder spun flinging convexity at the dragons which faced her before rushing to Ornis. " Did you get it!"

" No! He's gone with it. I can't move. My shoulders are broken." Ornis whimpered. Cynder snapped her head up and saw Earn getting thrown threw a wall and Winfil getting slammed into the ground from multiple shadow bursts. She then saw Spyro standing face to face with Darksis. She noticed Spyro's form was Darker than usual again. She shook her head and yelled.

" Spyro! We need to go now!"

Spyro flared his wings instantly before jumping from where he stood to Cynder's side. He put his paws on Ornis and Cynder before jumping them outside the city and in the forest. " I'll be back with Earn and Winfil." Said Spyro before jumping away. A cloud of dark energy in his wake.

" Earn! Spinning ball!" Winfil ordered. Earn nodded and flew towards Winfil who put his arms out. Earn grabbed them and both dragons started to spin round at speed. Earn focused and earth compacted around him turning the green dragon into a wrecking ball. Winfil aimed for a moment before letting the ball go at the shadow dragons. The ball smacked some of them but most dodged the attack with ease. Earn hit the opposite wall and burst out the ball sending shards of rock at all the dragons.

" Its no use!" He yelled watching the shards go straight through them. Winfil flew up and over the dragons and landed next to Earn. His head heavy with rushing thoughts.

" Then this is it then?"

" Looks like it-"

" Not while i'm here guys." Came a voice. Both dragons felt a paw on their shoulders before the room they were in vanished and was replaced with grass and trees. Spyro picked his paws up from their shoulders and walked forward. His face was grim but he was back in his normal royal purple form.

" Spyro. Have you got-" Winfil began but Spyro shook his head.

" I have not. One of the shadows took it before we could stop him."

Winfil hung his head low not wanting to think about it. They hadn't been able to get this artefact or the one from Warbrin.

" Well I didn't tell you what I got did I?" Earn said smiling. Spyro and Cynder both turned as Earn pulled a large glowing blue object from behind him.

" The artefact!" Gasped Cynder. " How?"

" You see when the shadow dragon jumped away from Ornis. He actually jumped just outside the room before he jumped to Verena. In that small moment I grabbed the artefact just as he was jumping and ran back into the chamber to hide it. When Spyro came to get us I had it behind me the whole time."

" You genius!" Praised Ornis from where he lay. His shoulders now beginning to swell.

" let me get that for you." Said Spyro as he put a paw on Ornis' shoulder. Some purple lights flashed from underneath the purple dragons paws and to their amazement, Ornis stood up on all fours as if nothing had happened and thanked Spyro. Cynder turned her head back to the city with heavy eyes.

" Well we had best return to the cheetah village. No time to waste."

" Spyro can you just jump us there?" Asked Winfil.

Spyro shook his head. " I can't jump all of you there because I myself am not so sure I can transport so many lives at the same time. We'll just have to fly back."

" In that case we have to start flying. I don't want Darksis to come after us." Earn said before taking to the sky and heading back to the village. The others followed slowly.

Ember sat in the middle of a dimly lit room on her on. Letting the events of discordinization mull over. She was nervous in case it was to be let out and what would happen to the world if it did. She looked out the window and into the sky, wondering what Aerilin's ancestors, the Prometheus' would have done in a time like this. She didn't know how to help or how to do anything any more. She was just a pawn in the larger game.

" Ember." A distant voice suddenly said. It sounded muffled and hard to hear but Ember new it was there.

" Who are you? What do you want?" She asked but before she heard anything else, she felt extremely tired and could no longer hold herself up. Ember fell to the ground fast asleep.

" You and I have some things to discuss." The voice said quietly.


End file.
